Total Drama Eden
by Lord NV
Summary: Total Drama is back! This time, the show's 52 contestants are joined by 31 participants from the Ridonculous Race and 25 newcomers in a big competition set on a one-of-a-kind island called Eden. Friendships and rivalries are formed and ended, hearts unified and shattered. Who will win? And how could Cody defeat a nemesis from his past. [Reboot of Total Drama Apogee]
1. Announcement Bombardment

**Announcement Bombardment**

"The producers want you to host another season?!" The ex-military man turned cook Chef Hatchet gave an unsurprised look at the man across him, both of them are seated on opposite red coloured sofas. Between them is a glass circular table with a chessboard laid atop, complete with black and white pieces from within and without.

"Yup! In fact they just gave me the contract a month ago" the man, which was none other than Chris Mclean, confirmed before advancing a pawn forward. Currently, both of them are in the living room of his luxurious penthouse in the city of Toronto. The night sky was visible from the large windows present in the room, along with the surrounding lit buildings.

It's just been an hour after dinner, yet time seemed to have slowed down as they immersed themselves completely in the game of chess. It has been their penchant for 6 months starting from the day Pahkitew Island concluded, prompting the 2 hosts to seek an alternative source of enjoyment to avoid boredom. From an outsider's view, they are moderately good at the game – neither novice nor professional.

Chris himself had always insisted to Chef on playing as the black set, presuming that his friend might interpret this as a racial insult despite the latter's repeated and annoyed assurances.

Game-wise, both of them are on the even ground, losing the same amount of pieces to each-other.

"And why didn't you tell me until now?" Chef narrowed his eyes dangerously at his best friend as he advanced his Queen four squares right-ward, clearly disappointed that he kept this kind of information from him for 30 days.

"Well… I wanted it to be a surprise so… SURPRISE!" Chris' reasoning was followed by a mock announcement, spanning his arms wide like a usual announcer would. Chef's expression soon faded into a satisfied expression.

"When does it start?" He asked in a seemingly calm manner as Chris positioned his Bishop to capture his Queen, the cook responded by eliminating the threat with his Rook.

"Sunday of next month" The host answered frowning, displeased that he didn't notice the trap; but nonetheless advanced his Knight.

"Who's competing?" came another question from the mouth of Chef as he moved his own Knight; Chris smiled at this before dropping the bomb.

"The producers want this season to be special sooooooooooo they decided to bring back all previous contestants"

"Really!" a surprised Chef jolted, wide-eyed in both shock and disbelief "That's about…" he momentarily stopped to count the amount of three generations combined "… 52 contestants" However, Chris would say otherwise.

"I'd correct myself if I were you Chef… because the duos from the Ridoncolous race are in as well! But unfortunately one of them decided not to compete"

"Then that makes it 83" Chef shouted in realization, to Chris' ever growing amusement before adding fuel to the fire.

"To make things more interesting we have 25 newcomers added into the mix as well, totalling to 108 competitors" Chris reclined to the sofa as he watched Chef's reaction

"108! What the hell are they thinking Chris!" Chef practically screamed, grasping his bald head with his hands as he nearly leapt from his couch.

"Sheesh! Calm down man" spoke the clearly amused Chris as he chuckled "Anyway I have three more bombs to drop, do you want to hear it?"

"Do you even have to ask" spoke a now-calm Chef Hatchet with a quizzical look.

"Ok. First is that it's taking place on a new island" Chris took his cell phone and showed Chef the image of the new setting "Which is artificial just like Pahkitew by the way… and its owned by none other than Lord Nemo Vaughan" Chef's eye's widened in shock once more.

"Lord… Nemo… Vaughan" he blinked for a few seconds "As in… Lord NV! The European trillionaire!"

"The one and only" Chris confirmed with a nod as he placed his phone on beside the chessboard "Apparently, he's an avid fan of Total Drama to the point that he approached the producers to become a benefactor" he explained "They struck a deal to set next season there to give it much more recognition"

After taking the new information in, Chef's curiosity prompted him to ask a question.

"Just asking but… do you know how much did it cost him to build this island?"

"Well, according to the producers…" The host puts his finger on his chin as he tried to remember "… He spent about 900 billion dollars building the island"

"Damn! That's a lot of bucks" Chef remarked "But why on earth would he spend that amount of money just to build an island. Hell! The Pahkitew alone costs us 2.1 billion only"

"Glad you asked" Chris said "From what I recall; Lord NV would tell us himself during the premier of the season"

"OK" remarked Chef before moving on to the next bomb Chris has "What's next?"

"What's what?" Chris asked, seemingly confused. Chef simply rolled his eyes.

"The next thing you're going to tell me, you said you have three right?"

"Ohhhh riiiight…" Chris face palmed "Through the trillionaire's aid, the producers decided to raise the prize money. The contestants won't be competing for one million dollars anymore; they'll be competing for ONE… BILLION… DOLLARS!"

"WOAH!" Chef stumbled back in shock as if he was blown by a strong wind, nearly toppling the sofa with his own weight.

"Which just leads to a more intense competition" Chris watched as Chef recomposes himself before he remembered something "Speaking of intense… I recall that Cody asked you to _toughen_ him up"

"Yeah he did" Chef replied nonchalantly yet his positive expression visibly darkened.

"Do you have any idea why would he make that kind of decision? I mean, he's not the kind of guy to just make that kind of decision. He's a geek after all – scrawny. What he's asking for is torture" Chris' inquiry caused Chef to narrow his eyes gloomily.

"I was driving over a meadow when I found him; lying on the ground… barely conscious and severely beaten. He was battered to the point of near death; having suffered bruises and broken bones all over his body, even cuts and burns. I took him as fast as I could to the nearest hospital I can find before informing his parents, who were equally horrified as I am. A few days after the doctors let him out, he went to my house, asking me to train him so he wouldn't be weak anymore. I tried asking who did 'that' to him but he just kept his mouth shut, so I just gave up and trained him"

"Wow…" instead of pity, Chris wore an unsympathetic smile instead "The kid's been through a lot"

"Yeah" Chef admitted with great pity "Anyway Chris just tell me whatever your final surprise is"

"If you say so" Chris sounds ecstatic at this one evident by his wide smile and raised voice as he rose from his seat "My baby-girl Amber is one of the newcomers!"

"Really!" Chef screamed in surprise and disbelief, his gloom instantly subliminated "Wow this upcoming season just got interesting. What made her join?"

"She said it's a fun way to spend the summer. It makes sense since being a popstar is quite tiring"

Amber made her debut at the start of this year, under the stage name **Electronica** to highlight her love for the cyberpunk. Her popularity immediately skyrocketed ever since, culminating with her making tours all over the world"

"Amber also said that it's a way she can spend quality time with me…" Chris Mclean's happy expression transformed into a displeased scowl "… And her boyfriend"

"Wow good to-BOYFRIEND!" Chef yelled in shock. Of course, this is the first time he had heard of it "H-How?! W-When?!" the cook stammered, the shock still gripping him.

"They've been dating for 6 months…" Chris informed in an annoyed tone before taking his phone once more "… And you'll be surprised to know who" he then showed a picture to his friend.

"For real Chris!" Chef stared incredulously at the picture. It shows Amber taking a selfie with a guy that both he and Chris knew all too well – the TD contestant Trent.

"Yeah, my reaction as well" Chris remarked, appearing disappointed by his daughter's choice as a boyfriend for some reason. Chef darted his stare from the picture towards Chris.

"Does he know that you're her-?" Chris decided to cut him off, having anticipated the question.

"Yes! And I completely disapprove of their relationship"

"Why? He ain't that bad?" Chef said, giving his friend a questioning look.

"Helloooooooo his obsession with the number 9" Chris simply glared at his friend, for appearing supportive at the relationship.

"Oh!" understanding quickly dawned in Chef's face, remembering back during TDA "I get it now"

"Anyway, how about we get back to the game" Chris proposed, pointing at the table "It seems that we've forgotten about it"

"Agreed" Chef nodded in agreement as Chris used his queen to capture his previously moved Knight "I forgot to ask, what name they are giving this season?"

"Glad you've asked" To this, Chris simply grinned and announced the name as if it was traditionally on TV while Chef just rolled his eyes.

" **TOTAL…"**

"… **DRAMA…"**

"… **EDEN!"**

* * *

 **AN: Well, that's for the reboot everyone. Below are the OCs (Mine and yours) and there are two things to take note. First is that almost all of my OCs have undergone major changes, the reason being to better fit their character. Second is that I am adding three more newcomers, the reason being a friend of mine managing to convince 8liana8 (deviantartist owning the Hot girl which I based Camille on) into inducting four of his favourite OCs (Already including the Hot girl) in her artwork (OC Lineup WIP - URL: art/OC-Lineup-WIP-496436696) into the competition. Being a close friend of mine, I can't say not. Since she had agreed and have presented the format, Camille will be known as Zara (The name 8liana8 has given to her) from now on and her character will be retconned according to what is presented in the format.**

 **To avoid further confusion, I'm lining them first:**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Zara Croft "The Sexy Chick"**

 **Personality: Manipulative, Competitive, Sultry, Cooperative.**

 **Clothes: See in 8liana8's OC Lineup WIP (URL: art/OC-Lineup-WIP-496436696).**

 **Hobbies: Using sex appeal to benefit herself and/or others (mainly her team), Pole dancing, Working out, Make-up, Using her IPod.**

 **Appearance: Same as the Clothes section.**

 **Skin tone: Olive.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Secretly bisexual and prone to express sexual innuendoes that tend to make people blush. Being svelte and well-endowed, she is capable of charming other people like Justin, mainly males and females with tomboyish qualities.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Tara Platt; Anna Williams from the Tekken Series.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Valerie Gauthier "The Pastel Goth"**

 **Personality: Whiny, Mean, Blunt, Selfish, Bratty,** **Snobby, Spoiled.**

 **Clothes: See in 8liana8's OC Lineup WIP (URL: art/OC-Lineup-WIP-496436696).**

 **Hobbies: Spending on extravagant things (mainly accessories), using her tablet, listening to music, spreading gossip.**

 **Appearance: Same as the Clothes section.**

 **Skin tone: Light pink.**

 **Interesting Note/s: As the sole child of a billionaire family, she had been spoiled for the entirety of her life. She only willing to interact with those belonging to the upper-class (RICH people) or Goth subculture and sneers those from the lower or mid-class if they approached her.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Kaija Matiss; Pinky Gauthier from Bully.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Amy Deauxma "The Odd Wallflower"**

 **Personality: Shy, Weird, Unpredictable, Wallflower, Loner, Introverted.**

 **Clothes: See in 8liana8's OC Lineup WIP (URL: art/OC-Lineup-WIP-496436696).**

 **Hobbies: Being alone in her room, browsing Pinterest on her laptop, looks at weird fashion, cute little accessories, interesting photographs, whatever is different and weird on Pinterest.**

 **Appearance: Same as the Clothes section.**

 **Skin tone: Fair.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Very shy around other people but secretly harbours attraction to bad boys, she has a dark past- she used to be a huge outgoing party girl but her past changed her into this independent wallflower, she loves spiders but extremely afraid of other animals.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Sarah Vowell; Violet Parr from the Disney film The Incredibles.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Josh McCullen "The Male Loner"**

 **Personality: Independent, Hopeless romantic, Creative, Quiet.**

 **Clothes: See in 8liana8's OC Lineup WIP (URL: art/OC-Lineup-WIP-496436696).**

 **Hobbies: Sketching, writing love poetry, digital art, drinking tea in a quiet place, Meditating, Listening to serenading music.**

 **Appearance: Same as the Clothes section.**

 **Skin tone: Pale.**

 **Interesting Note/s: He does not like being the centre of attention; his dream is to find the perfect girl. He's the kind of person who would sit quietly in a corner and sketch in his notebook in his spare time. He also practices a Zen lifestyle.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Elijah Wood; Beck from Tron: Uprising.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Pansy Beaumont "The Exemplary Gourmet"**

 **Personality: Hard-working, Dependable, Perfectionist.**

 **Clothes: A Chef's clothing minus the touqe. Black pants, socks and shoes.**

 **Hobbies: Cooking food and making a variety of deserts, Cleaning, Writing on her diary.**

 **Appearance: Head 8, Torso 9, Legs 7. A straight black hair tied to a ponytail reaching down her chest and green eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Black.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Daughter of a World-renowned Chef.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Janeane Garofalo; Colette Tatou from Ratatouille.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Neil Hazelton "The Grim Critic"**

 **Personality: Insensitive, Blunt, Harsh, Goal-Oriented, Intelligent.**

 **Clothes: Grey hoodie with blue jeans and white rubber shoes.**

 **Hobbies: Reading, using his phone, critizising as well as mocking other contestants.**

 **Appearance: (His head is identical to Cameron's) Torso 5, Legs 7. Black Buzzcut hair and brown eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Black.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Known for constantly criticizing and mocking those for their faults and mistakes. He may be not as smart as Noah, but he's cunning enough to stay in the competition.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Nate Corddry; Zed from Tron: Uprising.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Gregor Ramsey "The Olympic Emperor"**

 **Personality: Competitive, Respectful, Honourable, Resolute, Inspiring.**

 **Clothes: White Adidas TechFit Powerweb Sleeveless Speedsuit with matching athletic shoes.**

 **Hobbies: Doing athletics, swimming, playing chess.**

 **Appearance: Head 11, Torso 8, Legs 8. Brown slick back undercut fade hairstyle and blue eyes.**

 **Skin tone: White.**

 **Interesting Note/s: A natural leader and a consecutive winner of the Olympics (Hence the label)**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Chris Pine; Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Amber "Electronica" Mclean "The Cyber-Goth"**

 **Personality: Sweet, Fun, Friendly, Clever, Music lover, Quick-witted.**

 **Clothes: Hell Bunny Steampunk Black Corset Bodice Top with blue strips and a medium-length blue ribbon at the back of her waist along with black detached sleeves and fingerless gloves, the former bears a cerulean circuitry design** **while the latter has a blue star at the back of her hands. Blue-coloured black-trimmed miniskirt (See Decker Specialist in Saints row) and fish-net stockings. Black over the knee leather boots (Pic on my profile) with the same circuitry design as her detached sleeves.**

 **Hobbies: Sketching, reading and writing novels, listening to music, playing with her electric guitar.**

 **Appearance: Head 1, Torso 12, Legs 4. Blue hair (Pic on my Profile), fingernails and lipstick along with aquamarine eyes in eye-liner.**

 **Skin tone: Pale.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Trent's new girlfriend and Chris Mclean's daughter. She's a famous popstar and a known lover of the Cyber-punk. In fact, all the blue parts in her outfit (laces, ribbons etc) can glow and/or pulsate at either night or her own volition.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Tara Strong; Ember Mclain from Danny Phantom.**

 **(IMPORTANT TO AVOID TOTAL CONFUSION! The Blue I'm referring to is the shade of cerulean, since people has more familiarity with general colours than their specific shades)**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Wilbur "Waffle" Milton "The Silly Imbecile"**

 **Personality: Giddy, Dumb, Cute, Funny, Enthusiastic, Optimistic, Idiotic.**

 **Clothes: Gray long-sleeved hoodie, blue jeans and matching rubber shoes.**

 **Hobbies: Making armpit noises, doing idiotic things that usually result to him getting hurt.**

 **Appearance: (His bodyshape is completely identical to Dave) Blonde hair in a curtained style and green eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Fair.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Brother of Dakota Milton (aged 14-years old) and his feats of idiocy has a tendency to make anyone facepalm. He likes to shout 'Splee!' and 'Woohoo!'.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Kevin McDonald; Waffle from Catscratch.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Damian Balor "The Diabolus"**

 **Personality: Calm, Manipulative, Perceptive, Cruel, Merciless, Exploitive.**

 **Clothes: Simplified black knee-length unzipped hoodie trench coat (Image on profile) with red trim revealing a black T-shirt with a red butterfly symbol. Black pants and shoes of the same colour with red socks. Black leather gloves with the same butterfly symbol on the back of the hand.**

 **Hobbies: Observing the surroundings, psychologically attacking other contestants, meditating, whistling London Bridge is falling down.**

 **Appearance: Head 7, Torso 1, Legs 7. Black shaggy hair(Image on profile) and red coloured eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Pale.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Rumoured to possess supernatural abilities.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Greg Ellis; Squire from Ben 10: Alien Force.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Lukas Kliesen "The Lone Wolf"**

 **Personality: Assertive, Candid, Introverted, Apathetic, Vigilant, Impulsive.**

 **Clothes: The Avatar's armour in XCOM 2 but with red colours in the place of purple.**

 **Hobbies: Honing his CQC, playing strategy games, assessing people.**

 **Appearance: Head 11, Torso 9, Legs 9. Hair similar to Tezz Volitov from Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 but blonde in colour and bright golden eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Snowy-White.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Possesses a heavily redacted background for being the sole result of Germany's Top Secret Super Soldier Program (something a select few, including his companions, are aware of).**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Jesse McCartney; Nightwing from Young Justice.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Julien Rousseau "The Pyromanic Genius"**

 **Personality: Psychopathic, Cold, Sadistic, Pyromanic, Intelligent, Arrogant.**

 **Clothes: Black unbuttoned lab coat with a matching tie and red vest with a black shirt underneath. Black pants, rubber gloves and shoes with red socks.**

 **Hobbies: Inventing, boasting about his intellectual superiority, setting things ablaze.**

 **Appearance: (His head is identical to that of Devin) Torso 5, Legs 9. Glowing orange hair in an upward style (See XCOM 2 Avatar) and purple eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Fair.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Has an IQ of 500 and his unusual appearance is a result of a Nuclear plant accident.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Paul Reubens; Pavel from Tron Uprising.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Elias Acosta "The Colossus"**

 **Personality: Intimidating, Cautious, Sarcastic.**

 **Clothes: Black form-fitting sleeveless shirt with red trim and red gauntlets. His lower body is armoured (Pic on my profile).**

 **Hobbies: Weightlifting, wood crafting, cleaning.**

 **Appearance: Head 8, Torso 10, Legs 11. Shoulder length black hair like the Kevin Levin from the Original Ben 10 and teal eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Tanned.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Alejandro's Childhood Bully.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Greg Cipes; Kevin Levin from Ben 10: Alien Force.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Hiro "Raiden" Yamamoto "The Supersonic Marksman"**

 **Personality: Cool-headed, Impassive, Opportunistic.**

 **Clothes:** **Adam Jensen suit in the game Hitman** **.**

 **Hobbies: Sharpshooting, sight-seeing, reading books.**

 **Appearance: (His body shape is completely identical to Tom). Black hair with a style identical to Yoshitaka Moriyama from Koruko no Basket and brown eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Fair.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Always seen with a sniper rifle that fires rubber bullets. His stature is on par with Jasmine.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: John Morris; Andy Davis from Toy Story 3.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Julissa Grant "The Deaf Ballerina" (from GenuineHarajukuDoll)**

 **Personality: Sensitive, Clumsy, Respectful, Self-Conscious, Wary, Defensive, Timid, and Crafty**

 **Clothes: A pale pink camisole underneath a long-sleeved white off-the shoulder crop top, plain white Leggings with pink signature across her buttocks saying "Freedom", and white hightop Sneakers with pink laces and trim along the soles.**

 **Hobbies: Practicing her Ballet Recitals, Writing in her Childhood Diary, Stargazing, and Cooking (Gourmet Food).**

 **Appearance: Head 9, Torso 10, Legs 7, Chestnut brown hair which is down towards her middle back length in a curly texture with chin length bangs framing her face, cerulean shaded eyes which are framed by long, black lashes, and she wears a plain black choker with a silver crescent moon pendant on it.**

 **Skin tone: Light Caramel.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Julissa may sometimes be caught practicing her Ballet at awkward moments due to her deafness she can't figure whether someone is near even though she has her hearing aid, much to her embarrassment.**

 **Julissa was born with this disability because her mother was careless and have not known of her pregnancy, so she smoked cigarettes and drank hard liquor.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Peyton List (Disney Channel "Jessie", Emma Ross).**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Slade and Spade Williams "The Fraternal Twin Pranksters" (from GenuineHarajukuDoll)**

 **Personality: Slade is Generous, Gentlemen Like, Entertaining, Ecstatic Usually, Prankful, Kind, Mischievous, Easily Suspicious, and Not too Suspectible for Doing Things while Spade is Brutally Honest, Laid Back, Prankful, Easily Suspectible, Not Honest, and Critical of Others.**

 **Clothes: Slade wears a grey sweater underneath a navy blue sleeveless vest, black pants that are cuffed near his shoe level, and he sports black dress shoes alongside an everyday Sterling Silver heart locket around his belt loop while Spade attire consists of a plain white tee, black Skinny Jeans, white and black Converse, a Sterling Silver moon locket around his neck alongside a Black choker.**

 **Hobbies: Pranking, and Performing their Twin Magic.**

 **Appearance: Both Head 11, Torso 5, and Legs 4, Slade has shaggy ginger hair which is neck length with careless bangs framing his face, and Steel grey eyes while Spade has ginger hair which is styled into a tapered faux hawk, and Steel grey eyes with emerald green tints.**

 **Skin tone: Both Fair Skinned.**

 **Interesting Note/s: They can swap out sometimes despite being Fraternal Twins, they are nearly identical.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress:Jason Spisak (Both. Kid Flash in Young Justice.)**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Kai Roth "The Deadpan Guitarist" (from SilverSerpent12)**

 **Personality: Cynical, dry humor enthusiast, deadpan, blunt, exuberant, and weird (if you ever seen Guitarmasterx7/Lyle McDouchebag you will have a good idea how Kai will act).**

 **Appearance: Head 8, Torso 9, Legs 6. Jet black curly hair he parts on the left side of his head brushed to the right, grey eyes.**

 **Clothes: Black trenchcoat with a high collar, blood red shirt underneath with a heavy metal guitar symbol on it. Grey jeans and black Sk8-Hi vans.**

 **Hobbies: Playing guitar, video games, skateboarding, making people feel uncomfortable and calling people out on their BS.**

 **Skin Tone: Milk Chocolate Brown.**

 **Interesting Note: Master electric guitar player, used to be in a band.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Jay Baruchel (Hiccup in How To Train A Dragon).**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Ivan Lewis "The Deaf Guy" (from Mumei Mu)**

 **Personality: Team player, Kind, Hopeless Romantic, Open-Minded and Speaks a little.**

 **Clothes: Black shirt with the phrase 'Don't quit. Restart' written on white, white jeans and black all-star sneakers.**

 **Hobbies: Daydream, practice speech, magic trick and reading books.**

 **Appearance: Head 7, Torso 7, Leg 7. Messy long brown hair and hectochromic eyes (right is blue and left is hazel).**

 **Skin Tone: Slightly Tanned.**

 **Interesting Notes: Always falls for goth/punk girls and he have a lip-reading skill. He feels a little insecure about his disability.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Michael J. Fox; Stuart from Stuart Little 2.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Alice Monet Willof "The Silent Musician" (from Happy77123)**

 **Personality: Silent, Kind, determined, believes in the good in everything, Musical.**

 **Clothes: A long Red sweater with a white undershirt (Obviously not visible) with a pair of blue jeans and running shoes. On her neck is a necklace with a music note charm and a pair of glasses can be seen on her face, she is near sighted.**

 **Hobbies: Playing the saxophone, writing music, solving math problems, exploring the area.**

 **Appearance: Head 4, Body 1, Legs 7. Long brown hair tied up into a black ponytail. She also has blue eyes and freckles. Also she has scars all over her legs.**

 **Skin tone: White.**

 **Interesting Note: Carries around a white board and marker to communicate when she needs too. At the age of ten years old she got into a boating accident, causing her legs to be terribly injured. If she runs they go into pain, but she will try to hide it so she would not worry others. She was emotionally scarred too, and won't talk to anyone unless she is extremely close to them or really needs too, even then it would be only a few words.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Emily Kinney; Beth Greene from The Walking Dead.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Ryder Griffin "The Ventriloquist" (from Prince TigerMasters)**

 **Personality: Funny, Hilarious, Comedic**

 **Clothes: Green button up shirt, black jeans and black and white running sneakers.**

 **Hobbies: Playing with his dummies, playing videogames, swimming and dancing.**

 **Appearance: (His body shape is identical to Cameron) Black wavy hair reaching down to his neck Grey eyes.**

 **Skin tone: Slightly tanned.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Carries a ghoul, name Gary, dummy in a suitcase.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress:**

 **Normal voice: Tom Kenny; Spyro from Spyro the Dragon.**

 **Gary the Ghoul: Dee Bradley Baker; Number 4 from Codename: Kids Next Door.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Lucy Peyton "The Punk Rock Queen" (from MadilynJC)**

 **Personality: Cool, Fun, Music Lover, Sweet**

 **Clothes: A red shoulder-less skin-tight shirt depicting a treble clef, black, ripped leggings, and black combat boots. Also wears black fingerless fishnet gloves.**

 **Hobbies: Playing her guitar, listening to music, video games, writing.**

 **Appearance: (not entirely sure how this works)Head 3 Torso 2 Legs 3, 5'9, long, burgundy coloured hair in a wild, bouncy ponytail, a few freckles across her face, and electrifying green eyes.**

 **Skin Tone: White.**

 **Interesting Notes: She has a huge music record collection, and her favourite contestants would have to be...Gwen, Owen, Sierra, Zoey, Mike, Cameron, Dakota, and Sky.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Avril Lavigne.**

* * *

 **Name and label: Abel Payton "The Helping Hand" (from DyingWhale)**

 **Personality: Kind, Hardworking, Very helpful to his teammates.**

 **Clothes: Dark blue denim jacket, white shirt underneath. Black trousers and black converse.**

 **Hobbies: Assisting anyone he can, conversing with others.**

 **Appearance: Head 11, Torso 1, Legs 5. He has light brown hair that's actually very neat and tidy, he also has light blue eyes and light freckles.**

 **Skin tone: Very Fair.**

 **Interesting Notes: Assistant of many celebrities, but to his dismay he never receives any credit for the things he does for them or even be recognized. However, he holds immense knowledge of their personal lives.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: David Kaufman; Danny Fenton from Danny Phantom.**

* * *

 **Name and Label: Christopher Abraham Washington "The Lone Ranger" (from kaijudude1000).**

 **Personality: Noble, Honest, Intelligent, Humble.**

 **Clothes: Joshua Graham's armour from Fallout: New Vegas.**

 **Hobbies: Reading, Marksman/Shooting, Foreign Language, Travel.**

 **Appearance: Head 4, Torso 11, Legs 11. Black "The Mountain Man" haircut and blue colored eyes.**

 **Skin tone: White.**

 **Interesting Note/s: Has a mastery over all known martial arts and an IQ of 300.**

 **Voice Actor/Actress: Michael Gough; Dan Smith from Killer 7.**

* * *

 **The next chapter would consist of the intro for the first** _ **episode.**_ **But this time, it will include previews featuring the OCs – this is a way to see them** _ **in action**_ **and to inform me of any mistakes on behaviour.**

 **Now before I leave, let's round up the possible questions ringing in your heads during pre and post-reboot.**

 **[Why is the contest's name changed and why is it called Eden?]**

 **It was necessary since it belongs to the scrapped space station idea I had in the previous version, retaining the name would be highly illogical. It's named Eden for a special reason that you'll find out in the first episode… and I'm sure it will be loved by any nature-lovers.**

 **[Why have I changed the appearances of Beth, Sadie and Cody?]**

 **In Beth & Sadie's case, I find it a good idea to make them more physically appealing since it's mainly a sign of maturity, being conscious about their overall appearance.**

 **Cody's case however is very different.**

 **As you have read before and now, Cody asked Chef to train him in response to the traumatic experience he encountered. The said training was very intensive even for Chef's standards but continued on knowing it's for his own good. As such, it's only natural for 6 months and 15 hours a day of gruelling training to transform a scrawny body into a muscular form. This notion is quite identical to the fic** _ **Old scars new decisions**_ **by moonlightjasmine.**

 **[Who is/are responsible for beating Cody?]**

 **As much as I hate giving spoilers, the ones responsible for the beating is a group called The Black Round Table (basically, the five antagonists in this fic). It was more of a torture than a beating since it lasted for some weeks before they decided on leaving Cody to die in the place where Chef would eventually find him. Unlike the usual antagonists, this group is truly evil, on a scale par with Mal; although they are much more powerful and destructive.**

 **Cody is already aware of them long before Total Drama even started. He hates them with a burning passion and has repeatedly clashed with them before; the difference is that he successfully escapes every time. Cody's rivalry with Damian (the group's leader), and by extension The Black Round Table, will be the central conflict of this fic.**

 **The next chapter will show you readers just how destructive the Black Round Table is.**

 **[Why are the antagonists bizarrely dressed?]**

 **Their outfits serve as a physical expression of their character, but mainly based on their personal tastes. The one thing their clothes have in common is the colours of black and red, both colours which are commonly associated with evil in pop culture, highlighting their malevolence.**

 **That's it guys. Bye!**


	2. Premiere Eve: Morning

**AN: Originally, this chapter is previously intended to consist the previews of all OCs. But since things are kinda taking very long and it seems that many can't wait, I have decided it best to post about a third of the overall previews, I have written about 50% of those over the course of two months. Before you can even say anything, the reason for sporadic updates is because I've been experiencing a SEVER lack of motivation for the past months.**

 **Anyway, this chapter and the next two will be solely about the previews showcasing the Original characters belonging to me and you. These are to see them _in action_ and to inform me of any portrayal of behaviours. ****Each set in daily time periods(Morning, Afternoon, Night). This chapter is set in Morning, next will be in Afternoon and the chapter after that in Night.**

 **With all explained... Let go!**

 **Premiere Eve**

The greatest season of Total Drama has begun. Fifty-two contestants from the previous seasons will compete with thirty-one participants of the Ridonculous Race and twenty-five newcomers for the grand prize of one-billion dollars in a one-of-a-kind island. Tensions and bonds blossomed between some veterans and newcomers and three returning veterans showed significant changes since their latest appearance. The last newcomers made an explosive entrance and one contestant recognizes them as a heinous group from his past. The same contestant and the apparent leader didn't bother to hide their brutally violent rivalry from everyone, with several being caught in the crossfire.

* * *

" **Hello there TD Fans. It's me, your beloved host Chris… Mclean! Tomorrow's the big day. Today we will fetch our new campers from their homes, the old ones along with those from RR are already here. I've made sure to put each generation on separate yachts to prevent any cross-seasonal interaction; i want those things caught on camera you know. But since our producers have spent much on the upcoming season, we are left with only a single limousine to catch 'em all, meaning we have to fetch EACH of our newcomers on individual schedules and bring to them here one-by-one. But on the bright side, our lonely limousine is driven by our beloved co-host - Chef Hatchet. Well that's all folks and prepare yourselves for the premiere of... TOTAL! DRAMA! EDEN!"**

* * *

The rhythmic sound of footsteps smashing on the ground resounded over the empty track-and-field, blending with the discernible gasps for air.

A white-skinned young man is running on the field, having a muscular body that befits his status as an athlete. His brown hair slicked back and kept that way by a gel while his blue eyes fixed forward on the field, his clothing consists of a completely blue track suit and white sneakers.

This man is Gregor Ramsey - Canada's most-prized Olympian. But to the world at large, he is more identified by his title 'The Olympic Emperor', an achievement he earned for consecutively winning the Olympic Games for Canada in the recent years.

This is his 20th and final lap. The entire field is 250 meters in diameter and it has been about half an hour since he started. Something like this is very exhausting for an ordinary person to accomplish, as their legs would collapse on overexertion. But to Gregor, this is all but a part of his morning rituals, an _early_ morning ritual considering that it's 5:30 in the morning.

He finally ran past the finish line and came to a halt, taking a few moments to breath before taking a towel from his pocket to wipe the sweat on his forehead.

"5 additional laps. Very impressive Gregor"

Indeed. 15 was the original goal all along but he decided to add an additional five as a challenge.

Gregor turned and saw a person walking straight to him. It was a middle-aged man with a bulky body, wearing a plain white shirt, black jogging pants and same coloured shoes. He has a pair of brown eyes and black hair kept underneath a red cap.

"Coach Reeds" the athlete greeted his instructor. This is one of the times where his instructor accompanies and monitors him as he ran on the field. "I appreciate the compliment sir" his instructor smiled in return.

"You ready?" His instructor asked, aware of his audition on Total Drama.

"Of course" Gregor replied, in a tone denoting mild exhaustion. "Packed my stuff before going here. Just need to go home and take a shower" he explained. Reeds turned back and started walking away.

"I'll give you a ride, come with me"

* * *

Within the confines of a two-storey house, the sounds of a saxophone can be heard. This can be traced to a bedroom where a young girl is seen playing the said instrument as she lay seated on a chair facing the open window. She had a white skin along with blue eyes behind her polished glasses and freckles on her cheeks. The girl wore a white undershirt accompanied by jeans and running shoes, both having the colour of blue but the latter having white as a secondary colour. On her neck is a silver necklace bearing a musical note charm, something quite befitting due to her musical profession.

Her loose brown hair began waving slightly as the morning air entered her room through the window. Her only response was to close her eyes and revel as the cold breeze of the wind touched her bare skin.

 _Good time_ by Carly Rae Jepsen. That was the song she was playing with her instrument. Unlike the usual musicians, there were no notes in her vicinity. She had intensively memorized every detail of the song enough to disregard the usage of any guidelines – in short, peerlessness.

For the last two years, this has become a part of her morning ritual; usually done while breakfast is underway. Indeed, one could smell the salivating aroma of food downstairs.

The song soon reached its conclusion. The girl's lips soon parted away from the mouthpiece as she took a breath.

"Alice, breakfast is ready" came a voice from downstairs. The tone was gentle in a sense, seemingly belonging to a middle-aged woman.

Alice M. Willof complied and stood from her seat, leaving her instrument on the bed. Upon arriving downstairs to the kitchen, she saw the prepared breakfast on the circular dining table. The fragrance of the pancakes with butter and syrup was appealing as always, all find it irresistible to eat of such delicacy.

She sat down and started eating, chewing the food slowly and gently. On the other side of the table is her mother; from top to bottom, Alice is completely identical to her save for the black hair. Her own brown hair is, by far, the only trait she ever inherited from her father. She works as a receptionist at a luxurious hotel in downtown, having a decent pay-grade to maintain their standard of living.

"Tomorrow's the big day" her mother remarked, clearly referring to the upcoming season of Total Drama "Are you ready?"

"Yeah mom" Alice answered back with a smile as she chew her food "I've already prepared my things last night"

"Well that's good, you wouldn't want anything to be left behind right? Especially the saxophone" She reminded as she drank her tea.

The saxophone is Alice's most prized possession, valuing it over all of her belongings. The instrument previously belonged to her father, who works as a musician at a local five-star restaurant.

"Of course!" she screamed in shock, taken aback at such thought "I'm gonna lose my mind if something like that ever happened!"

"Which is why you need to recheck" Alice's mother instructed sweetly, pointing her teaspoon at her daughter. She plays the instrument several times a day as her hobby, simply a result of inheriting her husband's musical trait; mix that with her own profound determination and the result would be Alice.

Breakfast has been finished a few minutes later. Alice was drinking from the small carton of milk beside her when her mother called her attention once more.

"But…" Unlike the usual demeanour before, this time she sounds solemn. Alice stared intently as a result. "… I still have my concerns. Especially the challenges requiring physical activity"

It was all but natural for a parent to feel worry for their child, especially when their participating in a contest notorious for its dangerous challenges and sadistic host. But what made her worry much more is about the scars all over her daughter's legs, which is the result of a _boating accident_ that constrained her into walking at the young age of 10. The doctor even said that attempting to hasten her pace even in the slightest would result to an agonized aching.

"I'll be fine mom" Alice reassured, trying to alleviate her mother's worry "I mentioned it in my audition tape, surely Mclean and the producers would take notice. Otherwise, we could do what Whiny-Courtney always does – sue"

"But did you also mentioned… how you communicate with others" her mother asked. The accident imparted scars that are not only physical but emotional as well. From that day forward, Alice had refrained from ever speaking to anyone save for her and her husband, resorting to a board and marker to communicate instead, This has already been a concern for them since they once caught a glimpse of their daughter being persecuted by a group of popular students, it was only with their intervention that prevented things from escalating into a mess "Sweetie, you and I watched Total Drama together and I know the that there are mean people there that would definitely harass or even exploit you simply because of your nature-"

"-and we've also seen how everybody behaves in the show, giving me the idea of who to trust and who watch out for"

Alice's mother could do nothing but sigh in both defeat and understanding, knowing well how her daughter can be persistent in certain situations such as this.

"Alright…" she conceded to her daughter "Anyway, You should get fully dressed; the limousine might arrive anytime soon"

With that, Alice went back to her room and wore a red sweater from the cabinet. After that, she ducked her hand to her pocket and retrieved a black scrunchie, which she used to clasp her brown hair into a ponytail. With her completely dressed up she turned to her bed and saw the board and marker she uses to communicate; she walks over and grabs them. Alice stares at the two objects for as one thought crossed her mind.

" _Oh well, it seems like I'm won't be speaking for a few months"_

* * *

Ever since her childhood, she considered the kitchen to be her happy place. Sure she's home, but being here made her feel much more comfortable like this room is her actual home. This is her place of peace and happiness, to where she'll retreat in times of stress or to simply seek enjoyment.

Pansy Beaumont leaned forward and inhaled the aroma rising from the stock pot before her, giving a satisfactory smile at how perfectly it was cooked. Physically, she's a black skinned girl in a chef's clothing without a toque; her black hair tied in a ponytail as her green eyes stared at the bubbling liquid in the pot.

As someone hailing from a long-line of chefs and a daughter of a world renowned Chef Antoine Beaumont, It's only natural to feel pride as a cook.

" _Magnifique!"_ she remarked in an understandably French accent. What she is making is a French soup called _bisque_ , a creamy soup made out of several crustaceans "The stew is cooked perfectly" she then scooped some into a prepared bowl using a ladle before heading to the table. She had decided to prepare a meal while waiting for the limousine as a means to kill some time.

She dipped her spoon at the bisque and took a taste.

"Mmm…" Pansy let out a muffled sound. " _Délicieux_ as ever"

* * *

The sipping of a tea resounded all over the room, followed by a moan of satisfaction. Accompanying it is a music playing on the background, originating from the phone on a nearby desk. The music itself can be described as serenading, composed to be relaxing for the mind as well as sharpening one's cognitive capability; the peaceful atmosphere simply adding to the effect.

Josh McCullen returned the half-drunk tea cup to its small plate and he resumed his work in alone in the living room. He possessed a white complexion; a result of spending more time in the confines of their house rather than outdoors. He has a jet black hair with purple-dyed bangs that was well-groomed and teal eyes kept narrowed at his activity. He has a piercing on his right ear and two more beneath his lip.

Josh's current clothing is a grey long-sleeves and dark-grey jeans. His feet fitted with a pair of comfortable slippers, made entirely out of soft materials.

Josh's focus remained fixed at the Sketchpad laid on the table. For the past 10 minutes, he had been drawing a landscape of several mountains that he had seen in Google. It was nearing completion though; he just had to remember the few missing details.

His thoughts were interrupted when the serenading music immediately changed into a ringing one. Josh gently dropped his pencil and grabbed his phone, only to discover that it was his mother who was calling.

"Hey mom" he spoke softly yet sincerely. His mother is currently on her job as a flight-attendant on a plane touring towards Europe whereas his father has the occupation of a police officer.

"How's everything Josh?" she inquired over the phone as she had done countless times before.

"Everything's fine" Josh replied as he grabbed his pencil once more, intending to continue his task with the conversation "Lunch is done and… I'm all packed up"

"Well that's good. How's Natalie?"

On cue, his 10-year old sister walked right in; sitting on a couch with a phone hand and earphones; she wore a pink T-shirt and white pants. Unlike him, she had a blonde hair and blue eyes that she inherited from their father and mother respectively.

"She's cool" he replied with a smile.

"Don't forget to remind her to lock the doors OK, Love you Josh… and good luck"

"Thanks mom, bye" with that he hung up the phone and continued on with his sketch. It was finally completed after 5 minutes had passed. Josh then donned a black T-shirt depicting purple ghost symbol over his long-sleeves in preparation for the limousine.

* * *

A white-skinned girl can be seen seated on her bed. She had a long burgundy hair that was tied into a wild bouncy pony tail that reached her waist and electrifying green eyes with a few freckles on her face. She wore a red shoulder-less skin tight shirt depicting a treble clef, black ripped leggings and combat boots along with fingerless fishnet gloves. Furthermore, she is quite buxom to a certain degree.

Right now, she is tuning her electric guitar. It was the Stratocaster type, purely coloured red. Many electric guitars can be seen hanging on the walls, polished and well-kept but the one in her hands are by far her favourite.

And it's the one she's bringing with her tomorrow...

... But not before she plays a song with it first.

"Hmm… what song should I play" she drawled while caressing her chin.

Lucy Peyton, in a playful manner, smacks her head for a few moments before finally getting one.

"THAT'S IT!" Instantly, she jumped from the bed to her feet.

Lucy began playing her guitar as loud as possible while she sings the song _Bad Romance by Lady Gaga_. There was never a need to be subtle since she's all alone in the house.

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga oh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

 **I want your ugly  
I want your disease  
I want your everything  
As long as it's free  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love**

 **I want your drama  
The touch of your hand  
I want your leather studded kiss in the sand  
I want your love  
Love-love-love, I want your love**

 **You know that I want you  
And you know that I need you  
I want it bad  
Your bad romance**

 **I want your love and  
I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
I want your love and  
All your lovers revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance**

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! Oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

 **I want your horror  
I want your design  
'Cause you're a criminal  
As long as your mine  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love**

 **I want your psycho, your vertigo shtick  
Want you in my rear window  
Baby you're sick, I want your love  
Love-love-love, I want your love**

 **You know that I want you  
And you know that I need you  
I want it bad, bad romance**

 **I want your love and  
I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
I want your love and  
All your lovers revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance**

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! Oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! Oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga oh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

 **Walk, walk fashion baby, work it move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk fashion baby, work it move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk fashion baby, work it move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk passion baby, work it I'm a free bitch baby**

 **I want your love  
And I want your revenge  
I want your love  
I don't wanna be friends  
I don't wanna be friends, I don't wanna be friends  
I don't wanna be friends, I don't wanna be friends  
Want your bad romance, want your bad romance**

 **I want your love and  
I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
I want your love and  
All your lovers revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance**

 **Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! Want your bad romance  
Caught in a bad romance  
Want your bad romance  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! Want your bad romance  
Caught in a bad romance**

 **Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance**

At the song's end, Lucy raised her arm before slamming the strings of the guitar as hard as possible, producing a loud noise that managed to trail for a few seconds.

"YEAH!" Lucy screamed victoriously after her performance. After a few seconds, she noticed a limousine arrive in front of the house through her bedroom window. Out came from it is the driver and the co-host of the Total Drama contests - Chef Hatchet "Hi Chef!" Lucy slid the transparent glass sidewards and waved enthusiastically at the man below "I'll be down there in a sec, just gonna carry my things" with that she sprinted to her bed and grabbed her duffel bag before bolting downstairs.

* * *

"Hey Gary!"

A slightly tanned, small skinny teenager can be seen sitting on a long sofa with his legs placed on the table. The living room and, by extension, the house is quite quiet this morning. His parents are as always out to work, leaving him alone here. Although they know that he'll be leaving for Total Drama in the afternoon and informed him to lock the door this time. The last time he didn't resulted to about a half of their furniture being stolen; he got grounded for a month as a result of his clumsiness.

He wears a green button-up shirt coupled with black jeans and black & white rubber shoes. His grey eyes fixed on the puppet in a lumberjack clothing on his lap while his black neck-length wavy hair rests on the pillow behind his head.

/What is it… Ryder?/ the puppet moved its mouth as if it was actually the one talking, though the different voice clearly belonged to the teenager.

It's basically something you'll expect from a Ventriloquist. He had prided himself with such talent, considering that it was self-taught. Ventriloquism was his first step in becoming a comedian, something he'd dreamt of since his childhood. Of course, his parents gave him their blessing.

"Well…" Ryder Griffin rolled his eyes in a playful manner "Are you excited for tomorrow. We'll be on international television" he said with a smile.

'Is that even a question mate?!' The puppet asked in a somewhat annoyed tone "Of course I am."

"Yeah but we still have to wait for the limousine to arrive. Anyway while we wait, how about a joke?" He proposed to his friend with an expectant smile.

'Sure' replied Gary in what can be described as an upbeat tone.

"OK. Who is the most popular person in the world…? But also the lamest one around?"

'Who?'

"Its Chris…! Mclame!"

Both puppet and puppet-master began howling in laughter. As time passed, both kept trading jokes again and again.

* * *

A boy carefully tiptoes towards the front door of a house, making sure that no sound would be heard. His fair-skinned body clothed in a navy blue sleeveless vest with a grey sweater underneath along with a black pants and a pair of similarly coloured formal shoes, with a silvery heart locket hanging on his neck. He has a shaggy neck-length ginger hair with loose bangs hanging on his forehead and steel grey eyes vigilant yet gleaming with mischief.

In his arms are 10 cartons of rotten eggs and 5 cartons of spoiled milk bounded together by duct tape in a cubical shape. Hidden at the centre of this foul-scented object is a home-made time-bomb built from firecrackers and an old phone.

He gently placed the _bomb_ on the green floor mat and quickly dashed back behind the shrubs surrounding the house. He gently sat on the ground and picked up a walkie-talkie.

" _Package_ is placed. What's your ETA Spade?" he took a peek at the _bomb._

"Right about now… Slade"

Slade Williams darted his look at the roof where his twin brother suddenly appeared. Despite being born as fraternal twins, Spade Williams is completely identical to him in a physical sense save for a few aspects. Spade wears a plain white T-shirt with Black jeans as well as with a pair of black and white converse shoes, a Sterling silver moon locket around his neck and a simple black choker.

In Spade's hands is a bucket full of spoiled tuna. Spade positioned himself above the front door.

Why are they doing this? Apparently, a bully humiliated a friend of theirs during the last day of school in front of everyone and now they have decided to take matters into their own hands. The twins have prepared everything from the procedure to the escape plan, their bicycles already prepared nearby. Of course, the said bully would be pissed and would seek revenge at them. Unfortunately for the bully, he wouldn't be able to get his revenge since the twins would leave for Total Drama later this day, meaning they'd be gone for months.

"I'm in position" Spade replied to the walkie-talkie.

"Phase one complete. Begin Phase two" with a devilish grin, Slade stood from the shrubs. He grabbed the detonator in his pocket and hid it behind his back "HEY MITCH! HELLOOOOOOOO. MIIIIIIITCH!"

"WHAT!" the said bully appeared in the open widow. He has a stocky figure clothed in a brown T-shirt and black jeans. His hair hidden by black beanie and his brown eyes casts a murderous glare at Slade. In his hand is a soda that appears to be on the verge of being crushed.

"Enjoying Summer?" Slade asked with a confident smirk.

"Yeah… so" the bully asked back, clearly irritated.

"Hehe… just asking. Please go back to your couch and continue watching TV… SLUG FACE"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALLED ME!" Out of pure rage, Mitch completely crushed the soda before darting towards the door, intending to give Slade a beating.

As soon as he opened the door, Slade pushed the trigger.

 _SPBLASK!_

Rotten egg yolk and spoiled milk splattered all-over the area, drenching Mitch from head to toe with the vile substances. Not allowing him to recover from shock, Spade poured the contents of the bucket unto the bully.

Mitch began gagging in disgust at the very repugnant odour and the substances on his body whilst both twins began howling in laughter. The bully immediately collapsed on all fours and began retching uncontrollably.

Not wanting this moment to be missed, Slade took out his phone and started taking pictures

"Oh ho man, just as we expected"

After a few shots, Slade ran away.

"Heh, that's payback for what you did to George" Spade soon followed, climbing back to the ground using the tall ladder he placed behind the house. He soon joined his brother somewhere in the street and rode the bicycles they have prepared.

 **AN: As you may have noticed Gregor and Alice's attire are different from the description (though Alice wears hers completely at the end). This is to show that they are just readying since they are the first ones shown, hence the first ones to be picked up by Chef.**

 **PS: Described number of contestants in both summary and previous chapter have been corrected.**


	3. Premiere Eve: Afternoon

**AN: Here's the next one guys, sorry it took so long.**

 **Let go!**

 **Premiere Eve**

* * *

Sexy.

This single word sums up the girl named Zara Croft.

Currently she's swimming in the pool of their house, wearing nothing but her red two-piece swim suit. Her entire body was submerged in the temperate water for about 15 minutes or so before she stepped out of the pool.

Her brown hair and olive-skin were drenched in water as she remained standing near the pool. Her olive eyes fixed towards the white towel neatly folded on the nearby lounge chair situated underneath the umbrella, protecting it from the hot sun above. Lastly, the most eye-catching part of her body is her well-proportioned chest; one could guess this as an extension but the truth is that it's simply a natural development of hers.

Her house takes the form of a mansion. Basically, a luxury you get when you have a wealthy industrialist for a father. Another luxury she has is her looks, which she gained from her mother, a very beautiful Italian model her father had an affair with. Her entire existence was a result of a one-night stand between these two adults. Her mother used the accidental pregnancy into blackmailing her father to marry her since it would incite a huge scandal that would permanently stain his prestige; the man had no choice but to concede to her threat.

Her relationship with her own father is tense, given how he continually disapproves of her sultry antics; it was often for her to use her sexy figure to manipulate people to do her bidding. Heck to the man's added dismay, his wife approves it enough to teach her how to pole dance as well as the art of seduction. With excellent manipulation and good looks, there is no man she couldn't manipulate and not get anything she wants.

All-in-all, Zara is what street-smart persons would call a selfish slut.

She was alone with the maids and butlers as of now. Her father is in attendance with a business meeting while her mother left for a fashion show.

Zara had dried herself after a minute or so. Though the chlorine still remained ebbed in her skin. It would be very bad if she didn't removed it quickly, her pristine skin would be ruined – a great nightmare for any and all models.

"A cold bath will do"

With that said, she went towards the mansion. She has a personal bathroom in her own room just like her parents, complete with a tub and shower; this ensures that they could reach it with little time as possible.

Along the hallway, she walked past the indoor gym. If she's using sex appeal, she has to maintain her body shape as well. Zara monitors her weight on a daily basis and devotes an hour in the morning for exercise, which is followed by a cold bath that soothes her sore muscles.

Once inside the bathroom, she opened the shower and let the cold water drench her body, throwing her bikini away to the sink as this happens.

"Mmm... soooo good" Zara remarked in a somewhat seductive tone as she slowly closed her eyes and hugged herself, embracing the cold touch of the water.

* * *

Amy Deauxma was never a social person; she was always the typical shy secluded girl. But perhaps this contest could help make a difference.

Her petite frame simply sat on the chair facing her laptop. The device bore the frame of pink, suiting her gender as a girl and the symbol of a bitten apple can be seen behind the display.

Amy has a neck-length reddish-brown wavy hair and visibly insecure baby blue eyes. She wore a blue-green hoodie that doubles as a sweater and short shorts with a pair of leg-encompassing purple socks. Lastly, she has blue-green shoes and a white beanie on her head.

Since the past two hours, Amy has been delving in the website of Pinterest - a popular photo-sharing website. She had been searching for photos to add to her collection. The said collection being what people would call weird and different.

She took a moment to gaze at the small rectangular terrarium just behind her laptop, housing the green vegetation that mimicked the earth. The center of her attention is the sole inhabitant hanging on the tree prop placed a few weeks ago, its eight legs attached to the trunk. This creature goes by the name of Emily - her pet tarantula.

Though having an irrational fear of animals, arachnids were an exception. She found them comforting since she shares their preference for solitude.

Amy looked at Emily as if she's forgetting something, then it clicked.

"Oh my gosh!" with widened eyes, Amy looked at the time in the computer "its 1:30 PM, her feeding time" the wallflower jumped from her seat and darted to the drawer on the other side of the room.

As this happens, Emily crawls down to the 'floor', massive fangs clicking in anticipation of her meal and red eyes glued at her owner.

Amy came back holding a small white case.

"Here you go" she opened the terrarium and dropped an adequate amount of green pellets at her food bowl. The tarantula immediately started gobbling the treat.

Amy smiled as her pet ate. These pellets were specially designed for the diet of arachnids, consisting of grounded insects they commonly eat in wildlife.

"Good girl" she reached out and caressed Emily's black hairy body before turning her face to the duffel bag on the bed. She's prepared for the contest. And of course, she's bringing Emily with her.

After all, the application forms never said anything about bringing a pet.

* * *

Calling it a mansion would be a severe understatement. The term is not even worthy of describing the dwelling despite its denotation for large impressive houses.

It is more of a palace given the grandness of its craftsmanship, with evident traces of Victorian-era architecture. Adding to that was its colossal frame. Surrounding it is an equally large garden stretching for dozens of meters, composed of variable yet beautiful flowers and trees with long lines of bush dividing the entire area into sizable sections. Fountains were of course present, with the largest of all situated in front of the gate.

On the contrary, the owners of the house weren't even of British or any European background. This is simply a lavish method of expressing their wealth in an architectural manner. After all, Victorian-style architecture is still appealing in the eyes of men even though they had faded from prominence ever since the rise of modernism.

Any passerby will find themselves entranced by the sheer beauty before them.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

Unfortunately, even with the entire mesmerizing aura the entire house radiated, they failed to quell the rage that came from within.

Valerie Gauthier could do nothing but scream at her parents. She had just stomped inside the living room upon learning that her parents signed her off for some stupid contest.

Valerie's overall appearance is not one you'll expect from a young lady, let alone a heiress to a family of billionaires. She wasn't clothed in the immaculate clothing of the rich, but rather that which befits her pastel Goth persona. She wore a white loose crop top; ending just above her stomach, engraved on the chest is the vulgar word 'FUK'. For her lower body, she wore pink pants littered with the designs of bats with white or pink outlined stars and knee-high leather boots with heels. Her physical appearance was no better; her fair-skin and waist length black hair were dyed light-violet and violet respectively and she even has a tattoo on each shoulder. Piercings were present as well two beneath her lip and one on her belly button. On her head is a flower-crown adorned five pitch-black cones that resembled as horns given its placement on her forehead.

"Oh yes we can" Mrs. Gauthier gave her daughter a smug look while a maid does her manicure. She and her husband are seated in two red comfortable sofas with a small-circular glass table between them. The living room was littered with a small cadre of maids and butlers dusting the furniture.

"You refused to change your ways and we see it fit to punish you. In fact, this has already been set in motion for the last two weeks"

Valerie's only response was to growl, baring her pearly white teeth at her parents.

"You could've chosen something less harsh. What you're doing is too much; you're sending me to an isolated island with those... Peasants!" She's referring to the other contestants. It was a plain indication of her disdain for the 'common' people."Unlike these fools here..." She gestured at the maids and butlers all over the room. "... They will show not even an ounce of obedience"

Even as they proceeded with their tasks, the housekeeping felt their eyes twitch and teeth clench in indignation. Underneath the stoic façade of theirs is the strong distaste for Valerie. Every day in the household, they have to experience the excessive snobbery and whiny tirades of their owners' only child. Sure, Mr. and Mrs. Gauthier may be uncaring employers but they preferred to leave their servants be and are even kind enough to let them take breaks from duties. Unfortunately, the scioness is very demanding and mean-spirited to even care for their wellbeing; adding to their ire is her blunt insults and opinions that continually offend them.

All in all, Valerie is the worst form of the upper-class, primarily in their sphere of scions.

So it was a miracle when they learned that she will be leaving the household for some months. They were secretly rejoicing at the fortuitous event. In fact, they plan on throwing a secret party tonight in the large, extravagant basement of the house.

Mr. Gauthier lowered his newspaper to cast his daughter an annoyed look. "Even if we did, nothing in you will change Valerie; just understand that this is just to teach you a lesson. You're a Gauthier for godsake; the only heiress to our generations-long fortune. Start acting like a lady instead of that gothic nonsense of yours!"

A butler approached Valerie's father."Master Gauthier, Mr. Hatchet has arrived."

"Send him in" Mr. Gauthier watched as the butler exited the room.

Mrs. Gauthier looked turned her head towards the twin maids who have just finished dusting off a vase. "Esperanza... Esmeralda, go to our daughter's room and pack up all of her things"

Valerie found herself taken aback by what she just heard. "WHAT!"

"Of course, señora" the two Mexicans dropped their dusting tools at a nearby table and began heading for the door.

"W-Where the hell do you think you're going!?" Valerie made a desperate attempt to assert her authority. "Get back her and leave my room ALONE!" Mr. and Mrs. Gauthier could only chuckle at their daughter's desperation - an act that didn't escape her ears. "This isn't funny!"

Soon after, the butler came back with a large man behind him.

"Mr. Hatchet" Mr. Gauthier greeted the co-host of Total Drama with a bright smile. He rose from his seat and shook hands with the ex-military man. "Pleased see that you've arrived"

"Pleased as well Mr. Gauthier" Chef Hatchet returned with a smile of his own before his gaze swiveled towards the Pastel Goth, who gave him a deep glare. "So... This is your lil girl..." Valerie crossed her arms before intensifying her glare at the recently arrived man "... Honestly, wasn't expecting' her to look like that"

"FUCK OFF!" Came Valerie's response, the two words toned with absolute disrespect.

Ignoring the insult, Chef returned his attention to the billionaire with a smirk. "Lemme guess, you didn't tell her until now?" It was the only reason why the heiress is pissed-off and Mr. Gauthier just nodded his head in equal amusement. "So that's why you kept insisting me to bring a tranquillizer gun.

Valerie's eyes went wide like saucers. "A TRANQUI!-" What Chef Hatchet did next was a testament of military training. With lightning-fast hands, he snatched a relatively small pistol hidden beneath his apron and shot a dart at the scioness, hitting her left shoulder.

The effect itself was instantaneous, Valerie stood shocked for a single moment before succumbing to unconsciousness and fell backwards to the ground. Mrs. Gauthier summoned two maids to carry her pacified daughter to the limousine soon after.

"The tranq will keep her asleep for about five hours, by the time she even wakes up she's already in her respective yacht" Chef Hatchet explained as Valerie is carried out of the door.

"Excellent!" Mr. Gauthier jubilantly clapped his hands while his wife stood from her seat and joined him. "Now, why don't you join us at lunch. We had it postponed just so you could join us at the table"

"Really?!" Chef said in shock, given their generosity and the fact that he hadn't eaten lunch yet given how Chris made him drive back and forth from each newbie to the studio. To top it off, it's already 1:00 AM. "Thank you very much, I greatly appreciate it"

It was then Chef Hatchet and the Gauthiers departed for the dining room.

* * *

Neil Hazelton is a man with great determination. He pursues a goal with great tenacity until its completion then repeating the process at another, his mind constantly outlining plans to reach his aims. Distractions were ignored as best as possible, if not, suppressed by any means he had deemed necessary. But he knew that as a human, even he has his limits – the complete immersal towards one thing is unhealthy, the accumulated stress would affect his body and mind which is why he had made sure to dedicate 2-3 hours for recreational purposes and ease his mind.

But within lies an icy heart.

Logic triumphs above emotion, the heart has no place for the conclusions made by the mind. Neil has embraced this creed in all its glory; never letting his heart to ever argue with his mind.

As such, he is willing to reach his goals even if it comes at the expense of others. He had lost count of how many times he had tricked and lied to people for his ends, but he knew it was quite many. He bore neither guilt nor shame for his own actions, or even empathy nor sympathy for the people he tricked. The only thing that matters was that they have served their purpose; even more was that he had developed an amusement in both mocking and criticizing his _tools_ for any misgivings.

The young man lies inert above his own bed, brown eyes closed and hands behind his head, touching his black buzzcut hair. His apparel consisted of a white undershirt, blue jeans and white shoes. A grey hoodie lay draped over a nearby chair beside his duffel bag, one he would wear upon the limousine's arrival.

Though his body lay at rest, his mind was buzzing with activity. For the past hour, he had been pondering over the competition tomorrow. Of course, after he had made his audition, he bought and watched all episodes of Total Drama in an effort to observe the behavior of the contestants and the relationships between them, assessing them for any advantages he must took notice of and vulnerabilities he could exploit.

The only thing that he could consider a problem would be his fellow newcomers. Their identities were undisclosed to each other but he knew that there are 25 of them in total if he included himself. They would be unpredictable, he would have to dedicate much time observing them to discern any behavioural patterns.

"Neil!" His eyes opened at the recognition of his mother's voice. "Your ride is here!"

He pulled himself from his bed and walked towards the door… but not before he grabbed both his hoodie and duffel bag.

"About time"

* * *

Guitar and video games are two separate things. But in this circumstance, the two are one.

Guitar Hero MAX is the latest addition to the Guitar Hero series. After a year of hiatus, FreeStyleGames have finally released a new one; which is significantly much better than the previous incarnations since this allows you to input songs through the use of Internet.

Kai Roth used to be a member of a band consisting of merely 4 individuals including him. He filled the occupation of guitar, while the others were the drums, piano and voice. He left because of the egomania that has consumed them. In fact in one of their concert, he watched them descend into a brawl for fighting over attention. Disgusted of what the band had become, he quietly left and severed all ties with them; them moving to another city was a great aid.

But that doesn't mean his skills have faded as well.

As a master guitarist, he utilized the guitar-shaped game controller with utmost proficiency; his flawless performance earning him and increasing score. There were no signs of excitement or struggle on his face, just a simple deadpan expression that was already there when the game started.

He has a black hair that is neatly comb to the left side and grey eyes that remained focused to the screen. His clothes were the trademark outfit he and his band wear during concerts; an unbuttoned jet black high-collared trenchcoat with a red shirt underneath bearing a heavy metal guitar symbol in black, grey jeans and a pair of black Sk8-hi vans. It served to remind him of the good times with his bandmates before their _fall from grace._

The game itself was finished after a minute. He was about to go downstairs, an electric guitar and duffel bag on his hands, when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked dully as he dropped his bag and picked the phone from the desk, not bothering to know whoever it is.

"Heeey little brother" came a cheerful voice.

"Ryan" it was his older brother, who is back at the university yet behaves as a lax party-animal. "Why did you call?"

"Just saying my good luck to my little bro. Too bad you auditioned for TD man, I'm gonna throw the largest and loudest party here and I was thinking of inviting you"

He found the offer to be generous despite considering it uncomfortable. He allowed a small smile crept on his lips. "Well, I'd rather walk to a lion's den than join a noisy orchestra"

It produced the intended result as laughter emanated from the phone. "Good one Kai. Good to know that your dry sense of humour is still with you" Ryan remarked. "Anyway good luck in TD, you have my support"

"Thanks and have fun in your party" with that he ended the call and placed the phone to his pocket before proceeding downstairs.

* * *

" _Did I make the right choice?"_

Again, he asked himself why he auditioned for this contest in the first place. It's been about a week since he had received a message bearing the acceptance of his audition, and now it the long awaited return of Total Drama starts tomorrow. Now he feels very nervous and contemplates yet again why did he even sign up for this.

Ivan Lewis is a tall yet lanky teenager with a slightly-tanned skin and shaggy brown hair that reaches his nape. He wears white long-sleeves underneath a black T-shirt with the phrase 'Don't quit. Restart.' written on white coupled with white jeans and black sneakers. If one would look at him, the most striking part of his body would be his eyes since it is heterochromic given how the right is blue and the left is hazel.

He knelt down as he stuffed the last of his things to his suitcase and double-checked its contents. After a few seconds, it is clear that all of his belongings are already here save for one. Ivan pushed himself upward and stretched his arms to ease his sore joints before walking to the table where his most important of his belongings lie.

Grabbing it, Ivan starred at the pair of hearing aids on his hand; these two small devices are what exhibited his condition to other people.

He's deaf. It's a short word but has a long meaning. He was born on this world incomplete, having all senses that make people whole save for hearing. This condition was genetic as the doctor said, but not an inherited trait since none of his parents or even anyone in their extended family has the same condition.

Now these hearing aids are what acted as his actual ears, without it the world around him is nothing but pure silence.

" _I just hope I can do this"_ Ivan placed the medical devices on his ears before relaxing on the bed, awaiting the arrival of the limousine.

" _After all, Chris Mclean said that I'll be the first deaf contestant of Total Drama"_

 **AN: Ivan Lewis and Zara Croft sections in the 1** **st** **chapter has been altered. The former, I changed his appearance because it makes him eerily similar to his Author's other OC in his fic, who is deaf as well (Total Drama Cycle). The latter has changes in personality; I decided to make her into the stereotypical manipulative hot girl villainess for character development. But over the course of the story she'll undergo a gradual change as she begins to fall for a fellow contestant.**

 **With the...** _ **astronomical**_ **amount of contestants participating this season, I'm contemplating on altering the group mechanics. Interactions are bound to happen due to the hundred-plus competitors, but it will be limited by one factor – team assignment. The ongoing team model employed in the series and most local fics restricted, if not severely limited, several interactions from fostering due to the competitive nature of the contest.**

 **Which is why I have come up with a solution; but first let me tell you the two forms of teams:**

 **STATIC TEAMS: the 'traditional' model used in both the series and most fics. As I have explained above, team members will have difficulty in having meaningful interactions with those outside their team, what's more is that alliances made outside the group would put the said member in a dangerous position for the reason of 'fraternization with the enemy'. The advantage of this is that stronger loyalty amongst the group is developed and a strong leader could easily assert power and maintain their position for long periods in the contest, meaning that cohesion is possible as long as no friction is formed (see Gwen and Courtney during World Tour).**

 **DYNAMIC TEAMS: this here is my solution. The phrase 'Change is a constant' lives up here, for after some challenges every team will have their members RANDOMIZED! – meaning a contestant's previous team or even team member could their opponent after a few challenges. Only a few highest performing contestants would be spared from this fate, allowing them to continue as a member of the team though they could be challenged by another for the right to remain in a tie-breaker challenge.**

 **This model is an antithesis to the one above.**

 **In here, loyalty is much difficult to form or even be nonexistent given how the team composition is short-lived and cohesion would be feeble due to their teammates either in a neutral or hostile relationship with them, they are forced to work with constant unknowns and hostiles for some time. Furthermore, leaders will find it harder to assert and maintain their position – every team is basically unstable to the core due to the constant** _ **shuffling**_ **. There is an advantage however that is quite appealing; alliances are not bound by teams and could grow exponentially, by the time the** _ **shuffle**_ **happens 'sleeper agents' would sabotage their own teams for the interests of their respective alliances.**

 **This pretty much imposes a very cutthroat nature in the competition, you have allies and enemies but in reality everyone has different allegiances. In this model, my aim is to explore interactions amongst the large collection of competitors, but relationships might take longer to form compared to the Static model.**

 **Right now, I don't know why but I suddenly had a gut-feeling that my solution might be a bad idea. I can't decide on what to use, stay on the same team model or use the solution I developed. This why I'm asking 3** **rd** **party individuals like you readers to help me out – there's a poll on my profile for you to choose what should it be: STATIC or DYNAMIC.**

 **PS: Whatever the result would be, you should know that the Black Round Table will remain a static team, unified and unshuffled for the entire competition - Damian has his 'ways' to convince Chris if the teams became Dynamic.**

 **Till next time...**


	4. Premiere Eve: Night

**Finally able to post the last of the prologue chapters, this was supposed to be published sometime last month but progress has been considerably slowed because I had to deal with my personal life. Anyway this chapter is a monster I admit, counting to 20k and the largest one I've ever written up to this date.**

 **Poll is closed; team setup for TDE will be Dynamic. I'm surprised that many have sided with my solution, seems like we all share the sentiment for boundless interactions among the many contestants.**

 **Lastly before we start, credit to** **Skillet28561 and Tokusatsu-31st Century for helping me with Abraham's section.**

 **Premiere Eve**

* * *

Onagers were ancient siege weapons first pioneered by the Roman Empire for besieging forts or settlements, hurling objects from a great distance to the defenders of said locations. Its use was then passed on to the Middle Ages before fading into antiquity as the cannons came to existence.

But it can still be used for fun.

On a large garden beneath the starry night, one such thing has been assembled from the package ordered and was the size of about a room. The delivery had been made in the past months and had just arrived this late afternoon after several delays.

A young boy stepped back after finishing the assembly with a bright smile, his petite figure befitting his 14-years of age. He has a blonde hair reflecting the moonlight and green eyes that he used to admire his work with a bright, lively smile. His clothing is composed of a long gray hoodie with the word 'FUN' written in white, blue jeans and a pair of blue rubber shoes.

Wilbur Milton is the second child born to Marcus and Hilda Milton, thus making him the younger brother of the Total Drama contestant Dakota Milton. Being born to a family of high standing, Wilbur is expected to act dignified like his fellow Milton's.

Too bad he's born a childish thrill-seeker and an idiot.

The assembled onager has been positioned directly to their family mansion, having done so in secret considering that his parents and even his sister banned him from ordering deliveries after the dreaded 'Laser light show' incident levelled their mansion to rubble during one of his sister's parties.

Now that she's mentioned, he felt kind of glad that Dakota had returned to normal; the mutation was apparently been temporary as she reverted back to her original beautiful self after a week.

Now for his reason in building this onager, he plans to hurl a projectile towards the row of pillars in front of their mansion... And the projectile happens to be himself.

Of course this will hurt a lot, but he was born with a condition that gave him a nigh-immunity to pain and not to mention his fast recovery. Also, they have a large medical insurance to cover his injuries, in fact that makes up 25% of their yearly expenditures.

The purpose? Just Fun!

With excitement coursing in his veins, he puts a helmet on and grabbed the trigger from the ground before hopping on the bucket. He pressed the button and a countdown began from the screen.

3... he dropped the trigger on the grass below.

2... he took a fetal position

1...

"WOOHOO!" He cheered with a big smile as he is lurched in the air, only a second before crashing on the three pillars and bringing them down along with the balcony their supporting.

The ambulance came a few minutes later. Dakota watched from the gate as the medical personnel carried her brother to the ambulance and drove away.

Her only reaction is to put a palm on her face. "Not again Wilbur"

* * *

Within the confines of a studio, a group of ten girls can be seen performing ballet as a serene music played in the background. The movements were graceful and synchronized, enough to spark amazement in the eyes of others. With them is a woman around her 60s, dressed immaculately as she watched her students perform.

Rachel Grant herself used to be a ballet performer, but has retired a long time ago as age finally caught up with her body. She had since then taken the position as an instructor over the girls before her, imparting her experience to the new generation. Dressed immaculately, she sat cross-legged on a chair as her bespectacled eyes observed the performers.

Although Rachel is observing her students, her eyes were always focused on a particular one.

The young lady's name was Julissa Grant, the only child of her nephew Garfield Ballin. Out of the entire group, Julissa herself performed the most graceful out of all her students. She had a curly back-length chestnut hair with chin-length bangs framing her face and cerulean eyes framed by long, black eyelashes.

Julissa always has a smile on her face every performance, but beneath the smile is a horrid past.

Unknown to all but her, Julissa had a grim background.

Her relationship with her nephew Garfield is very distant considering the man was a drunkard and a smoker who worked as a bartender on some Nightclub downtown, there he met this recently-employed woman who is as sleazy as him and had an affair during a drunken night. Julissa became the resulting consequence, a pure soul born from tainted parents. But sadly, the girl had been born deaf because of her mother's unawareness of the pregnancy back then along with her heavy drinking and smoking. Since birth, the young child endured the abuse of her parents. Julissa could only afford a standard education given how the money they earn are mostly spent on indulging themselves, she had only been enrolled to not bother them. Julissa's school life was no better as her disability made her an outcast, most unfortunate as she had placed high hopes on her school. True that the teachers and staff were kind to her, but her fellow students are not quite as she frequently became a victim of bullying because of her disability.

Julissa was 10 when she came to her doorstep, her cheek stained with dried tears and bruises; it was the first time she knew and met her. Rachel honestly thought of her as a street urchin at first, until she revealed her relation to her nephew and even brought something as proof; Garfield's necklace was something she gave to him on his 13th birthday and there was not a single day he doesn't wear it – it was his most treasured belonging. She let her in her house and invited her to dinner, given the way the girl ate made her wonder if she's being given proper nutrition by her parents. When asked how she found her home, Julissa said that her father inadvertently revealed her address to her during another one of his drunken stupors, saying that she should just go there and not be a bother anymore. Rachel embraced the girl as she broke down to tears from the years of torment she endured.

Presenting Julissa as an evidence, the police had raided her home and arrested her parents on the charges of child abuse as well has handing Rachel the legal custody over Julissa. Immediately after that, she had begun the steps in improving her life: such as enrolling her to another school and helping her spirit recover. Ultimately, she helped her cope with her deafness by teaching her ballet.

The practice had ended a few minutes later and the students have left with their parents. Now Rachel and Julissa found themselves driving towards home.

"Without the usual heavy traffic, we should return home just about half an hour" Rachel said as she maintains a straight path in the highway. "Still, you made the good decision of packing up before we left" Julissa didn't say anything

"Anyway do you want to order take outs in McDonalds? We're just a kilometre away?" Again, her grand-niece said nothing. They had already eaten dinner before the practice and this will only serve as a snack. Given how no car is in front of them, she momentarily turned her head to her grand-niece and tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. "Jules?"

The deaf girl was startled; apparently her hearing aids were turned off while she was about to write on her diary by the time Rachel grabbed her attention. She is now wearing a pink and white striped T-shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black and purple sneakers.

"Huh..." Julissa was clueless for a few seconds before realizing it "Oh!" she then pressed a button on her two hearing aids. "I'm sorry... What were you saying Aunt Rachel?"

Rachel only smiled in understatement. "I said do you want to order take-outs on McDonalds? We're just about a kilometre away?"

"Sure, I'll have some fries and a chicken fillet" those were her favourites; it never gets old no matter how many times she ate those. With her Aunt Rachel's attention back to the road, her focus returned to her diary.

 _Dear diary. Tomorrow morning would be the start of a new leap in my life. I have auditioned for the popular TV show known as 'Total Drama'; I first became aware of this during one of my sleepovers with my friends when we watched the first episode of the Pahkitew Island season and became captivated ever since, my friends were shocked that I've never heard of this show before and gave me DVDs of the previous seasons. The reason I auditioned is because I think of this as a great way to spend summer and fully experience a life with only your peers around. Hehehehehe, this will surprise my friends because they aren't even aware of this._

* * *

"It's done Mr. Smith"

Will Smith was disturbed from his tranquil musings as he sat on the couch, his gaze moved from the magazine on his hand to the person before him. The renowned actor was resting on his private jet which is scheduled to make flight to Ireland where he and his family would take vacation; his wife is already on their room while Jaden and Willow were on theirs.

The person before him is a young man. He wears an unzipped dark blue denim jacket showing a white shirt underneath along with black trousers and all-black converse shoes. On his face, he could see the light freckles beneath his light blue eyes and a light brown hair has been combed neatly and tidy. Will had sent the man to go pick some of the luggage that was carelessly left behind by his children; it was a good thing that the plane hasn't left yet.

"I'm thankful for your assistance" he smiled at the person. The young man had changed from his immaculate attire to his regular apparel by the time he had asked him to pick the luggage. Of course, the actor knew of his participation in the upcoming Total Drama tomorrow. "But I have to ask man, why TD?"

The young man scratched the back of his head, obviously nervous of revealing this kind of reason. "Well... I'm just tired of being treated as a ghost despite all the things I do. Of course, save for a few people like you Mr. Smith"

Will Smith nodded in understatement. The young man before him is works as an assistant of many celebrities like him and is very attentive to their needs, always there when in need of help. Unfortunately, they never give him any acknowledgement for his actions and even fail to recognize him by appearance or even name unless he or someone else makes them.

"Well then, all I can say is just good luck... Aaron"

The young man's eyes slightly widened in disbelief, his name has been forgotten again. "It's Abel sir. Abel Payton"

* * *

The concert is ripe with the jubilant cheers of the many people occupying the area. The bright colour of cerulean has established a dominant presence around the area as it is what kept it from being submerged in absolute darkness, from the stage lighting that danced gracefully around the area to the glow from the smart-clothing worn by the attendees in a diversity of patterns.

The atmosphere was thick with excitement for the past minutes. Everyone came here for the performance of a popular teen popstar.

The stage lighting ceased to exist; leaving the bright glow from the concert-goers clothes the only source of light. The roaring cheers dimmed for only a few seconds before returning in an even greater intensity than before as a new phenomenon occurs.

A dark figure had seemingly materialized on the centre of the stage, her body only seen by the cerulean glow on her clothes.

"Hey everyone" greeted the figure in a composed manner before a spotlight above finally revealed her appearance.

The crowd went even wilder in recognition. The girl wore peculiar clothing bearing only the colours of black and cerulean; a black corset bodice with cerulean strips and a medium-length cerulean ribbon at the back of her waist. Her arms were covered by black detached sleeves and fingerless gloves; the former bears a cerulean circuitry design while the latter has a cerulean star at the back of the hand. For her lower body, she wore a cerulean-coloured black-trimmed miniskirt and fish-net stockings. Black over-the-knee leather boots with the same cerulean circuitry theme as her detached sleeves. Latched on her left ear is an earphone with a microphone protruding down near her mouth, serving to amplify her voice.

The same goes for her appearance which was heavy with makeup. She has a skin that she that appeared as white as the moon of the night sky and her hair are dyed in cerulean and so are her fingernails and lips. Lastly, her beautiful aquamarine eyes are defined by black eyeliner.

The cerulean colours of her clothing are glowing their beautiful shade, enlightening the small area around her in a beautiful illumination. In keeping with her cyberpunk theme, her outfit is built from E-textiles that permit the cerulean parts to glow automatically in dark or even at her consent.

And even with the light above, the glow can still be seen.

On her arms is a Gibson Explorer-model electric guitar, its black colour scheme and glowing cerulean circuit-based design making it a reflection of its owner. Beside the bridge is a circular equalizer with the bars glowing in cerulean as well as built-in circular speaker beneath the bridge, modifications of her own.

"ONTARIO, CANADA...!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. "... ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?"

This served to only intensify the screams.

"ELEC-TRO-NI-CA! ELEC-TRO-NI-CA! ELEC-TRO-NI-CA!"

"AM-BER! AM-BER! AM-BER!"

She is identified by these two names; Amber Mclean as she was born and Electronica as she stepped into fame. But she let anyone call her either; it doesn't bother whatever people prefer.

"SO AM I!" Amber let out a brief chuckle. The other instruments behind her are already being manned by their players. "But before we begin, I just want to say thank you all coming here in this concert" she began in a soft tone. "I really appreciate it because... This will be my last for a few months"

All in a sudden, the concert has descended into silence – absolutely impossible silence. From her position, Amber could see the concerned looks on her fans as they murmur upon one another. It was public knowledge that she had being doing concerts non-stop after her rise to fame, so she suspects that they are thinking that she'll take an extended leave or even retire.

"The reason is because... Well, if you have heard of the show called Total Drama, You'll know why"

Amber watched as their concerned faces turned into wide-eyed disbelieving expressions of amazement, she could already hear the phrases 'No way' and 'Oh my god' around the concert.

"That's right" she confirmed. "I'll be gone because I have auditioned for the show"

The crowd went wild once more over the announcement. The news of Total Drama's return is well anticipated by everyone given its popularity, even at the face of the myriad of controversies such as the endangerment of the participants' lives. What's more is that its public knowledge of Chris Mclean being her father.

"So before I leave, let me present you one last song..." the stage lighting return, dancing wildly around the concert once more. "Let's light this concert up"

The spotlight died and the crowd screamed once again as the band began to play. After letting the song to play in instrumental for a few moments she began to sing.

 **Let's light it up!**

Amber starts to play her guitar.

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up,**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

Amber stopped singing and allowed the piano to play its part for a few seconds before returning with the next verse.

 **Something 'bout the night is magic I can't explain  
Everytime the sun goes down feel everything cha-ange,  
Feel my body buzzin',  
Feel my temperature reach,  
Every night's a brand new page,**

 **Yaaa!  
Let's light it up!**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

The popstar stopped once again to let the piano play as she tap her boots on the beat.

 **I~ feel you next to me,  
Lost in a dream,  
I~ feel you hol~ding me,  
My head is spin~ning,  
It's spin~ning, **

**It's spin~,  
It's spin~,**

 **YEAH!**

Amber began playing her guitar wildly as she began hoping around the stage in a manner similar to AJ Lee's entrance before her retirement, much to the further delight of the fans.

 **Let's light it up!**

 **Light it up, Light it up!**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes**

 **Let's light it up!  
Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight  
Let's light it up,  
Like shooting stars are burning light up the sky,  
Let's light it up**

 **Light it up, Light it up  
Light it tonight,  
Let's light it up  
Like the night,  
Like the diamonds,  
Shine in your eyes.**

Amber ended the song with a loud rev on her guitar. The crowd let out a last loud cheer at the performance of their favourite popstar.

 **0000000000**

An hour has passed; the attendees had completely deserted the area a few minutes after the concert's official end. Amber, with her cerulean glow turned off, went to the parking lot, her guitar and luggage on her hands, where she met Chef Hatchet beside the limousine he has been driving for the entire day.

"Uncle Chef" Amber hugged the hulking military man with a joyful smile, something that is also embedded on the man's face. "I'm so glad to see you"

"Same here baby girl, it's been months" Chef empathized in a soft tone, quite unnatural for his harsh persona. He hasn't heard of Amber ever since her debut. "Why don't you hop on the limo? I'll load your stuff for you"

Amber nodded in compliance as she entered the parked limousine beside them, she felt her eyes widen in amazement at how luxurious the interior is. An L-shaped sofa spanned from the back of the limousine, an assortment of drinks and snacks occupied the other side, a small flatscreen TV situated on the partition beside the open window to the driver's seat.

So luxurious that Amber couldn't let a whistle remain in her mouth. "Wow!" She said as she entered and sat on the sofa before helping herself with a soda and some chips. Chef Hatchet walked into the driver's seat and it took a moment for the car to start before it drove away to the road.

"I wasn't expectin' you to audition for TD" Chef said, trying to start a conversation from the partition's window.

"I guess daddy told you" Amber calmly spoke the only logical conclusion as she took a bite of another chip. "Did he also tell you about-"

"Trent – your boyfriend. Of course, he did. He told me what made you join after all" Chef Hatchet took a moment to look Amber and saw the slight concern on her face. "Before you even ask, I'm fine with it baby-girl, unlike your Dad"

"Yeaaah" the popstar drawled dryly. "He still thinks that Trent has that nine-addiction"

The two occupants were startled when a sound blared out. Amber was quick to recognize it.

"Isn't that Total Drama's intro... in instrumental" she pointed out before knowing that it's emanating from the driver's seat.

"My ringtone, it's your dad calling" he said as he grabbed the phone before putting it beside his ear.

"What is it Chris" Chef's voice was intoned with indignation as he furrowed his eyebrows into a frown, rightfully justified by the host made him do for the entire day.

"Got some news from the Producers. But first I like to talk to my daughter" it was Chris Mclean himself who made the schedule of who to pick up, marking those living nearest to be fetched first while thus furthest later. There were those living in the same proximity but the host adamantly made him pick only one at a time, much to his frustration. What's even more frustrating is that he wasn't given any information regarding them such as names and appearances save for that pacified scioness from the afternoon and Amber.

With a sigh, he complied with his wish. "Amber, your dad wants to speak to you" he reached out the phone out of the window and the popstar approached him from the back.

"Hey dad" Amber greeted with a lively smile as she placed the phone on her ear.

"How's concert sweetie?"

"The usual" she grinned as she laid her back on the cushion. "It's great, loud and awesome"

"I hope you haven't eaten dinner yet. I prepared dinner for both of us, made it myself you know"

"Awww... that's sweet thanks dad" Amber remarked. She was about to say her goodbyes when a suggestion came to her mind. "Hey dad, Trent's already there right. Can I invite him to dinner?"

Silence came from the phone for a few seconds before Chris' voice returned, but this time it's no longer possesses the soft tone. "No." Came his now sharp voice, tinted with disapproval.

"Oh come on!" the popstar pouted as she threw her free hand in the air, a small frown etched on her beautiful face. "He's not crazy anymore with the nine-thing like you think."

"I'm very sorry sweetie, but I'm not taking any chances with that guy around; maybe he'll insist in eating **nine** dishes or even try to finish his meal in just **nine** minutes"

Amber groaned in displeasure over not being able to invite her boyfriend, but just conceded with her father's wish as she knew him for his persistence. "Here you go uncle" She returned the phone back to Chef before walking back to her previous seat and finishing her snacks.

Chef just went straight to the point. "So... what's the big news Chris man?"

"Well..." the host drawled playfully. "I got some good news and some bad news, which would you like to hear first?"

Chef only made an eye-roll. "The bad one, what else?" It was the usual choice on questions such as these.

"The Producers have mistaken the address of last contestant you'll pick. The guy actually lives in Ohio, USA. You need to cross the border and fetch him up"

"What!" a shocked Chef Hatchet shouted in a whisper, not wanting to startle Amber. "Are they even serious?! Going there would take me a couple of hours, not to mention I have to get five others before-"

"The good news is..." Chris cuts his co-host's rambling. "... The other five before him is now off your list, they insisted on going to Eden Island themselves."

"Why is that?" It was something Chef himself found odd, having never come across incidents such as these.

"I dunno man" Chris admitted. "I asked the Producers myself and the way they said the reason is quite ominous, apparently they were contacted by one of them"

Silence came from the phone for a few moments before the host finally spoke.

"They said those five have some... _business_ to attend to"

* * *

The Fairbanks city of Alaska has become a warzone. The very cold air around the town was unable to stem the flames that have consumed most of its infrastructure even with all its might. The scale of destruction induced is comparable to that of the war-torn cities as dark smoke from the city now tainted the once pure night sky. Corpses of both combatants and innocents littered the streets bearing the injuries that caused their death, their blood tainting the ground beneath them. The military on the city was no match for those that attacked.

It is now a hellscape.

The battle had long since ended in the enemy force's favour, now they're just cleaning whatever pockets of resistance that remained.

"You're all that's left?"

In contrast to his calm tone, Sergeant Philip Washington felt a growing sense of dread in his heart as he laid his eyes upon the man before him. The middle-aged soldier is part of the company that had been tasked to protect this Downtown of the city along with these men before him. Unfortunately, this place has long since been overrun by the enemy forces and patrols are sweeping every inch of the area for survivors. Now here he is in an alleyway with two of his most trusted soldiers, they were searching for any survivors be they a combatant or civilian when they stumbled upon this young man.

From the start, the entire battle was woefully one-sided in the attackers favour.

The attack is a blitz in nature, capitalizing on the element of surprise which decimated most of their forces before they can even respond. Whoever is leading the attack possesses a tactical mind given how both their long-range communications and the city's power grid has been disabled, ensuring that they are deprived of any reinforcements and knowledge of this attack will only be known by the time it's finished.

"What happened?" Philip asked in a tone of utmost seriousness. This man, a private as indicated by his rank, is part of a platoon he had sent to exfiltrate the city in order to inform anyone outside of what happened.

"W-W-We were ambushed by _that_ sniper on the way, I'm the only one that managed to escape" the young man stuttered, clearly shaken by the bloodshed he had witnessed.

Philip grits his teeth in irritation. The sniper in question has become a bane to them ever since the start of the battle, intercepting every offensive and even killing the leadership of the entire company to the point that it left him the highest ranking officer left, thus prompting him to take command of the decimated group. This sniper is very dangerous given how three squads he dispatched separately in the past were decimated by him just some seconds after one was dealt with, leaving a few survivors to return and spread word of his apparent omnipresence.

"Sir... " Philip turned to face on of the soldiers that accompanied him in his search and saw that worried expression on his face. "... What now?

Before Philip could even utter a word, all of their radios fizzled to life. A glimmer of hope shone in his eyes for only a moment before it became hollow.

" **Targets sighted"**

A mere second after hearing that voice from their radios, a small hole appeared on the sergeant's forehead before he even knew it. The sheer force sent his body to the cold floor of the alleyway. His comrades meet the same fate. They quickly turned around to face the assailant and raised their rifles to fire, but they were killed in the same manner.

" **Targets eliminated"**

Above a nearby rooftop, the sniper lowered his weapon. He bore a calm expression that contradicts the chaos plaguing the city as he stood from his crouched position, the gentle wind touching his pitch-black hair and fair skin. His eyes admired the bloodshed he had caused behind the cover of his glasses, protecting it from any ember that can potentially come too close.

Superficially, his glasses can be dismissed as something ordinary... But on a closer examination, it would say otherwise. The transparent glasses are basically miniaturized military-grade tactical displays displaying real-time information in the form of white diagrams. Beneath the black frame is a highly-sophisticated circuitry that is designed to translate the electrical impulses of his brain as a computational input, given how it's sticking on his head because of its curved design. In his left ear is an ear piece he uses to receive orders and even intercept communications. It was through this that he had known the positions of his targets.

He could thank a glowing-haired genius for this marvel.

His apparel alone radiates an aura of militarism, It is as black as his hair save for the glasses and vest he wore, both which are on the colour of scarlet.

 **(AN: The outfit is exactly Adam Jensen suit in the game Hitman, along with the glasses.)**

The sniper gently presses the button on his earpiece.

" **All platoons. Status report"**

It was about half an hour when he demanded such. Back then, there were a lot of contacts and KIAs. Perhaps this time will make a difference.

" **Platoon 01. Nero Tiberius"**

Nero Tiberius – their own code word for the absence of any enemies.

" **Platoon 02. Nero Tiberius"**

" **Platoon 03. Nero Tiberius"**

" **Platoon 04. Ne-"**

Out of the sudden gunfire sounded over the transmission, but even this unexpected commotion failed to rob him of his emotionless expression.

" **CONTACT!"**

The sniper then heard the distinct weapons fire of his soldiers.

" **Sir! Are we moving in to assist?"**

"No" came the sniper's flat voice, the absence of emotion also evident on his tone. "Stand down and let them deal with the problem"

The firefight lasted only for a few seconds as gunfire died down.

" **Tiberiuses neutralized. Augustus Cicero and No KIAs"**

"Understood. All platoons are to continue sweep until the operation is declared over, scour every road and building for survivors"

Leaving the area, Hiro Yamamoto turned back and sprinted forward at an inhuman speed and by the time he had reached the ledge, he jumped at an impressive length towards the rooftop of the building before him.

 **0000000000**

He ran.

That was all that Officer Barton could do for the past 15 minutes. He and his fellow police officers were evacuating the civilians here in the North Pole suburbs with the help of a detachment of soldiers, having armed themselves with automatic weaponry given the firepower the invaders are packing. The civilians were being loaded aboard four APCs in order to guarantee their survival if they ever come across of the invaders, leaving them exposed throughout the trip would be a great liability. With them is an M1 Abrams tank, just enough for them to feel safety around the area.

Only for the enemy force to appear and attack, bringing a tank of their own. While certainly smaller and having less firepower, it managed to best the Abrams with its one-of-a-kind nimbleness and quick cannon-fire. The parked APCs immediately tried to leave the area and failed in doing so, the tank redirected its attention and shot their tires, bringing two to a grinding halt. One managed to escape its range only to be rammed upside-down by another tank from the alleyway it was in the middle of passing. Like furious hornets, the civilians crawled out of their downed vehicles with reckless abandon only to drop like flies as the invaders gunned them down.

This action and the fact that those that laid-down their arms were gunned-down without a second thought, confirmed his worst fear that the enemy force is bent on leaving no one alive to tell what happened. It was fortunate that he heavily insisted his wife and daughter to take a vacation on Hollywood, given how his wife is a workaholic in her job as a manager and both of their parents wanting to see their grand-daughter.

They just left yesterday and it would be the last time he will see them.

Now the bloodied officer is all that's left of the failed evacuation along with the soldier running with him. They had escaped since they've been caught in a pincer but were picked off one-by-one over the time. It went to the point that self-preservation overcame their duty to the city and attempted to make way for an escape, only to discover that the enemy has set-up security checkpoints on all roads, attempts to escape the area off-road were made but were repulsed by the squads and UAVs patrolling around the area, forcing them back to the city and be hunted like animals.

"Augh!" he stopped dead to his tracks and turned to see that his fellow escapee fell to the ground, ankle twisted unnaturally. For a moment, he considered leaving him out of self-preservation, but his morality said otherwise.

"Come on..." he said as he pulled the soldier to his feet. "We have to-"

It came out of nowhere; Officer Barton felt something metallic struck his face that hurled him and swore that the force of the impact was enough to crack some bones. He landed on his back a few meters away with a groan before immediately grasping his lower face as his nose and lips began to bleed. The officer let out a brief yet loud groan before hearing what seems to be the crackling noise of electricity.

The volume of the same noise heightened considerably for a moment, concurring with a loud scream sounded over the area and a brief appearance of a red flash of light.

Ignoring the pain, he lifted his head up and saw the soldier he tried to help lying on the ground dead with his head gone, a thick column of grey smoke arising from where it once was. In the head's place is some kind of weapon clearly meant for close-quarters-combat and by the looks of things it has been slammed to the head. By the time he had laid eyes on the wielder, the person rose up and equipped the firearm from his left hip and he felt its laser pointer touch the centre of his head.

His last memory before darkness consumed him was the smiling faces of his wife and daughter.

The hunter lowered his firearm after triggering a burst-fire at the officer's head; boring three separate holes before it fell down to the ground. He was hiding in the second-floor balcony with the intent of ambushing these two and it proved to be a boon that the other had incapacitated himself, leaving him with only one to actually deal with.

A single spinning roundhouse kick to the face from a high-elevation was enough to do the job.

The entirety of his face is covered by a facemask bearing an opaque all-encompassing visor where he perceives the world around him in the colour of ruby-red. But half of the mask is covered by three fang-like bangs of his golden blonde hair. Though this does indeed obstruct his half of his vision, his performance is enough to ward away any criticism.

Like the person before, he wore a similar apparel that emanated militarism – but his is visibly more expressive. Angular black armour plating covered most of his body save for some areas that showed the black bodysuit he wore underneath. The apparel encompassed his entire body to the point that not a single part of the skin is exposed and that his only body part in the open is his golden blonde hair...

Lukas Kliesen watched the heat signature from his latest kill fade away from existence and essentially leaves the body a cold corpse. His facemask is equipped with a specialized visual system he had grown to call _Hunter vision._ A powerful fusion of sonar and thermal imaging, this allows him the ability to see through walls and highlight people according to their body heat in a large radius, allowing him to point wherever his targets are positioned as long as they're in range.

 **(AN: Just like the Detective mode in Batman Arkham but with, of course, a red layout instead)**

With his target dead, the German placed his firearm back to the magnetic lock on his left hip and turned his attention to the background. What he saw are multiple figures in blue highlights of varying sizes, an indication of their distance from him and from one another; some hiding inside buildings while others are out in the streets. There are also these crimson figures sweeping the surrounding area and gunning down any of the blue figures that they come across.

These are the soldiers he and his associates are in command of.

"There is no escape" he muttered the cruel truth in his lips as he sheathed his other weapon to the rectangular scabbard attached on his left waist. Lukas sprinted forward to his next target as he muttered next what assured the doomed fate of his targets.

" _I know... where you are"_

 **000000000**

"All clear Sergeant"

Following the report, a group of seven soldiers moved from the alleyway and entered a deserted street, moving in a linear order and their aim moving around for anything that may either be a friend or foe. In the front is a man named Thomas Andrews, distinguished by his visibly older appearance in comparison to his squadmates. They moved past the cars scattered around the street, most of them were turned-over and some were even set ablaze. But what they all have in common are the small and large ruptures on their frame, the corpses of the passengers can be seen inside.

"Let's hurry up people; our destination is only five blocks away, we have to make it in time or else they'll leave us behind"

Their destination is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where a sizable group of soldiers have holed-up and radioed anyone in a very secure channel that their planning to attack the crippled checkpoint in the Steese highway and escape the city.

Strength in numbers as they say.

"Finally we can get out of this hellhole" muttered one of his men, he was met with nods of agreement.

"But shouldn't we be looking for survivors?" one of them questioned, though it could be interpreted as protest. This guy is the only private in the squad given his visible rank. "There're still people around in the city, and most of them are civilians"

"There's nothing we can do about it now son" Thomas said as he proceeded pacing, not bothering to look at the private's face. "The enemy has complete control over the city and most of us have been killed defending it, now they're sweeping every street and infrastructure for survivors"

"But-" the private's further protest was cut off by a shout.

"CONTACTS"

Gunfire roared as military training kicked in and everyone immediately scampered for the nearest cover available, which were the cars scattered throughout the street. By the time they trained their rifles forward they saw flashes of light coming from the intersection on the other side of the street.

It was then they realized it.

None of them actually said anything. There's a battle taking place nearby.

"Fall back" on cue they saw about three soldiers and two police officers run and take cover behind a toppled van resting in the centre of the road. Bullets flew towards their position as they returned fire from the cover. The police officers are carrying the same rifles as the soldiers have, possibly handed by them to increase the fighting chance and thus, survivability.

Seeing that there are survivors in need of help, Thomas called their attention as he waved his hand "Over here!"

Their heads turned to face them. "Friendlies!" shouted who appeared to be the leader as he turned to the rest. "Go! I'll provide covering fire" he opened fire at the unknown assailant his fellow soldiers and police officers ran towards them, miraculously missing the bullets on the way and taking cover on the car beside them.

"We're heading for the Church" he informed their objective; Introductions would have to be done later given the current situation.

"Same" replied the soldier as he attached a new clip on his rifle. This is something good as by sharing the similar objective, their groups could proceed to the place as one stronger unit.

Seeing that his men has reached safety, the remaining soldier left cover and ran towards them with guns still blazing at whatever assailant he's fighting. But he was not so lucky like his men as a single bullet made its way to his mid-section and sent the unfortunate soldier falling to the ground screaming in agony as he clutched his wound.

"Shit" one of his squadmates muttered in shock as another round of bullets came forward but instead of striking the incapacitated soldier, they went for the rifle he had dropped instead, damaging it beyond use.

Then suddenly, he and the others watched as the soldier ceased groaning as he noticed something approach him from the intersection. The soldier now began to desperately back away from whatever's in front of him using his arms while his legs appear limp. _"The shot must've struck his spine"_ he correctly guessed as the soldier reached his hand forward.

"Please...!" the soldier finally descended into desperation, his face fully contorted in fear. "No-NONON-AAHHHH" he and the area around him are drenched in the carmine-coloured fire that was spewed from the intersection.

"HOLY FUCK!" one of the police officers shouted in horror as the soldier was burned alive in reddish flames. It wasn't long before something emerged out from where the flames were coming from and they were quick to train their weapons at the new threat.

The new threat is appears to be a scientist judging by the lab coat he's wearing. But unlike those usually seen in popular culture, this one is coloured black just like his pants. The coat itself is unbuttoned allowing them to see the carmine-red sleeves underneath and black tie hanging from the collar. This, along with the black shoes and visible red socks he wore, remained unaffected as he walked in the fires towards the suffering soldier.

Visible on his hand is a flamethrower given how he continues to use it to burn the still-living soldier. But it bore a design he has never seen before, in fact he swore that it could be mistaken for a rifle at first glance even though somewhat bulky.

His victim finally perished a few seconds before he reached his burning corpse. Thomas could see how only the charred flesh is all that remained; the fire was powerful enough to burn away the fabrics. The scientist turned his head towards their position in what can be described as an eerily slow manner and showed them the crazed look on his face. Though disturbed at how he looked at them, they observed that while his clothes were bizarre, his facial features are unnatural. His hair is raised upward and is glowing dimly in the colour of orange while his eyes were coated in menacing maniacal purple.

He was unable to ponder further if these traits are indeed unnatural or fake as an enemy APC rolled in from the same intersection the scientist came from, ramming the van the other group had used for cover away. Three soldiers emerged as well, two bearing rifles and the other armed with a flamethrower similar to the one used by the scientist. The APC stopped in the middle of the street and dropped its ramp, disgorging about a dozen soldiers in the area.

"Dammit we're outnumbered" he remarked as the newly deployed soldiers began moving to take positions behind the cars near them while the scientist just remained where he is and continue to give them his crazed expression.

" _Making a stand are we?"_ Julien Rousseau remarked as he watched the group with rising amusement coupled with his crazed stare. His powerful mind suddenly went abuzz over the multiple scenarios that'll play out in this fight such as how long will it take and their positions they'll take further in the fight, the possibilities are just limitless. But pondering over the outcome is unnecessary; Julien already knows that these Americans will lose this fight.

His lips parted to reveal his whitish teeth as he let out a sinister chuckle while something materialized over his left forearm and enveloped it.

His latest invention, a device only someone of his intellect could create. He had the medical robots back at HQ surgically graft an experimental fabric under his skin. Bear in mind that the procedure itself had no anaesthetic as doing so would ruin the fabric's delicate circuits, resulting to excessive amounts of agony as the skin in his left forearm is removed by laser scalpels then enveloped by the fabric. In the immediate aftermath a fluid he had developed was applied over the wound to accelerate tissue growth, decreasing the time of recovery to a matter of seconds as opposed to days.

The fabric uses physical phenomenon of photon entanglement to 'lock' photons together until they are capable of interacting with matter directly, in summary creating what people would call hard-light. Since the device is directly interfaced with his mind, he could modulate the hard light into anything at a mere thought as long as the correct programming is installed, ranging from actual blades or even shields. Power is drawn from the nanoscale capacitors embedded deep in the fabric and can be recharged by contact with sunlight, given how the surface of the fabric is based on solar panels.

 **(AN: This is the omni-tool from Mass effect, but the hologram is red instead of orange)**

"Alright people, let 'em have it!" screamed who appeared to be the leader as the entire group opened fire at their position. Most of his soldiers have immediately reached cover behind the cars as some are shot, though their body armour absorbed the kinetic force and only making the soldiers stumble to the ground due to repeated hits. But alas, such thing is not invulnerable as a majority of the Americans had concentrated their fire on one soldier, straining the armour's durability and actually riddling his body with bullets.

But Julien never bothered to dash for cover like his soldiers and remained where he is even though there are bullets speeding towards him; he held his arm forward in a manner similar to holding a shield...

... Only for his Omni-tool to reconfigure itself into an actual shield that stretches over his entire body in a rectangular shape. Given the transparency, Julien threw a dark mocking chuckle for the group to see. They obviously thought him for a sitting defenceless duck, how utterly pathetic.

Never underestimate any foe – that was the fundamental rule of any battle.

With his safety assured, he began walking forward as his men returned fire. The continuing barrage endured by his shield has drained about 19% of the power, it's not much of a concern but the energy being spent to negate each bullet is quite considerable than he had intended. He had to make some improvements after this operation is over.

One of the police officers went down after taking a shot on the head.

"All forces" Julien presses the earpiece on his ear. "Hold position. I'll deal with this, just pin them down"

As the firefight intensifies, he turned his attention to his flamethrower. Like his omni-tool, this weapon has an in-built computer system that is directly interfaced with his mind, sparing him from conducting physical examinations and adjustments as information is simply relayed to his mind and vice-versa. He had just set the temperatures at its maximum.

" _Hiding behind cars are we?"_ now at sufficient range, he moved his flamethrower out of the shield and aimed at one group of soldiers, the ones that had escaped them earlier.

" _Let's see if it can protect you from this"_

Flame spewed forth from the barrel and engulfed the entire car, this one is a far-cry as it is a literal hellfire that effortlessly melted the automobile in a matter of moments and completely incinerated those hiding behind. The reaction from the others was to scamper away from their cover lest they meet the same fate, this made them open season for his forces as almost all of them were gunned down immediately and left only three surviving.

As the surviving Americans moved into the next car, he reconfigured his omni-tool into a long sharp blade. Julien charged with reckless abandon towards their position with an insane laugh, bloodlust vanquished the concern for the bullets littering the area. Whilst not as fast as Hiro, his speed is still above average.

He vaulted over a nearby car to reach their position as they redirected their focus to him. He impaled his blade straight into the head as the momentum on his body forced them to the ground. As the others scrambled to get away from such close encounter, he does a horizontal slash on the nearest soldier's mid-section while for the one that is managed to go far; he just dealt with it using his flamethrower.

The remaining soldier fell on his groaning as he clutched his large wound; Julien watched his face meet his as he levelled his flamethrower to him. Recognizing him as the leader from before, he gave an insane chuckle as his manical purplish eyes made contact with his defiant brown.

" _Au revoir..._ "

Without further ado, Julien pulled the trigger.

 **000000000**

Colonel Alex Hudson treaded carefully in an alleyway along with his squad of six soldiers; all of them were but a speck of the brigade that had been tasked to defend Slaterville by the time of the invasion. Neither any of them know whether they were all that's left nor they are others that escaped as the area appeared to be the main battlefront of the invasion, at least in his eyes it seems to be given how intense the battle there was. The enemy easily brute-forced their way in the suburbs of Lemeta, Aurora and Totem Park, razing the houses and other buildings in the hunt for people and in some cases levelling them completely.

He has to admit the enemy force is very well-equipped, packing an arsenal that allowed them to go toe-to-toe with the garrison stationed here and put up a real fight as opposed to insurgency tactics he knew over the course of the USA's global campaign against terror. What's more is that those are something that he or anyone in the local military has never seen or even heard of before, but identifiable due to their pitch-black colour and red lighting.

The soldiers wore full-body armour. Whatever method was employed in its creation made it very durable, it allowed them to withstand high-speed projectiles like their bullets and the discharge only making them slightly stumble. But fortunately it didn't make them invulnerable against their weapons as a few more bullets were enough to put them down, the armour also displays no resistance against explosives and high-calibre guns, making them highly effective. Sadly, this only applied to the _grunts_ when the _heavies_ came in, clad in actual powered armour capable of withstanding those two weapons; heck he had seen one take a hit from an Abram's smoothbore cannon and instead of being turned into a grisly mess like anyone would be in the same position, it merely knocked him a few meters back and simply got back to his feet, though his armour suffered considerable damage. When killed, their corpse disintegrated into a puddle of water, including the armour.

Now there are their armoured vehicles. Aside from the generic APC, it appears that there's only a single type employed given its commonality in the battlefield and the apparent lack of others. Alex was unsure whether these kinds of vehicle is all that they have or the attackers just decided their enough and kept the others in storage. He had assumed early that there are two but he just discovered lately they are just a single version after seeing one transform into another and vice-versa.

And finally their Aerial Drones. Unlike the armoured vehicles, there appears to be only a single type used. It fills the role of a hunter-killer given how it flies over the city and shooting anyone using those two damn guns on the front. He had fought against these things more than once and it proved to be lightly armoured as their rifles can easily put them out of commission in just seconds, but it appears to be programmed to do one final attack upon nearing destruction. He remembered how in one of his fights with these machines, a humvee-mounted 50 cal. was used to do sufficient damage on the drone. Barely able to maintain its hover, it positioned its body to face the humvee before discarding its 'wings' and went full-speed to the vehicle using the thrusters in its rear, destroying it in a kamikaze attack.

Now as he continued his careful pacing with his squad, Alex continued to ponder just who the hell are they fighting! Early he had assumed them to be from another nation like the rest of Command was. The reasoning behind this assumption is that only governments have the capacity of arming their military with these sorts of equipment such as the tanks and drones, both of which are exotic that only first-world and some second-world nations can manufacture them in adequate quality.

But their assumption was disproved after uncovering some things regarding the enemy force. They had briefly managed to access the communications of the enemy force before it was cut, revealing that they are speaking in English – accented and not given the inclusion yet minor usage of several languages as well. This evidence of multinationality alone confirmed that they aren't against some country as they previously concluded – rather, they are fighting against an organization.

The question is – who? And what reason for the attack.

It wasn't long before they finally left the alleyway and entered the street, only to crouch behind the burning taxi cab that crashed on the nearby wall upon seeing three of the enemy soldiers on their right.

He was fortunate that their backs were facing them at least.

Alex raised his head to get a better view at the soldiers. There were at least three of them, two _grunts_ moving around the area where a lot of dead people, combatant and not, littered the street like trash along with some burning cars; it appears that they're examining the corpses by kicking them repeatedly to make sure that none of them are playing dead. Then there's the _heavy_ standing at the centre of the road, though his lower body is the only part armoured as he wore a black form-fitting shirt and a pair of maroon gauntlets. An American soldier can be found raised by his right arm, his neck placed on a vice grip. The unfortunate soldier was high enough for them to see his battered face and gouged right eye, groaning weakly at the agony he's experiencing.

"My god..." one of his men muttered in horror. "What has he done to him?"

Alex just leaned closer and discovered why the soldier isn't struggling to break free – he can't. "His limbs appear to be broken" he noted at how limp his arms and legs are. "That explains why he can't fight"

Deciding that he had let the soldier in his arms live long enough, the _heavy_ twisted his hand and a sickening crack came from the soldier's neck as his head dropped sidewards.

"Bastards" one of his squadmates muttered in disgust as the corpse was dropped rightward to the ground.

"We can take them out. There are only three of them, two _grunts_ and a _heavy_ " Alex rationalized with his squad. They have enough ammo to take out those _grunts_ and two AT4 rocket launchers to deal with the _heavy._ "Eric, Marcus, take cover behind that car on the other end while Joseph stays here with. Now when I give the signal, Marcus and Joseph will fire their AT4s at the _heavy_ while Eric and I deal with those _grunts_. Do you copy?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Let's do this"

As dictated, Eric and Marcus walked behind the car silently while Joseph prepares his AT4. Marcus does the same upon reaching the cover while he and Eric aimed their rifles at the moving _grunts._

"NOW!"

Columns of fire erupted from the AT4 as its payload sped towards its target in conjunction with a concentrated release of bullets towards the head of two invaders. A brief flash of light engulfed the area as the rockets reached its destination in a resounding bang before the thick cloud smoke took its place.

Alex and his squad left their covers and stood on the empty street to watch their work. There was no need to remain as the nearest threat has been eliminated...

Alex faced his squadmates. "Let's get going we don't want to be left beh-"

... Or so they thought.

In a blur, a spinning object sped towards the neck of Alex Hudson and separated his head from his body.

Shock and horror overwhelmed the squad as their leader's decapitated body fall to the ground. The mysterious object latched on a stop sign, revealing it to be a wide piece of torn metal now covered in the blood of their leader.

"COLONEL!" Eric was the first to scream.

"W-W-What the hell was that!" Joseph screamed as he hastily threw his AT4 and aimed his rifle at where the object came from – the smoke where they took out the invaders. His squadmates did likewise and trained their rifles at it. "We've put them all down. N-No way they can survive that!"

"Do you think that you can finish me off that easily?" came a calm mocking voice from the smoke, as it faded away they saw a silhouette walking towards the. Immediately, they redirected their rifles at their enemy as he finally stepped into the light. "Pathetic"

They never knew it but their mouths fall agape as they recognizing that the person standing before them was the _heavy_ they killed just seconds ago; having recognized him for the same outfit he wore despite seeing only his back. But now here he is, standing with them face-to-face surprisingly intact. His expression undaunted at the sight of their weapons trained at him given how his teal eyes showed no fear and instead casted dry amusement at their efforts, the onrushing wind gently waving his shoulder-length black hair behind.

"W-What the- Your supposed to be dead. We blasted you" Marcus shouted, disbelief evident in his eyes.

Something he shared with his squad as their enemy just gave an amused smirk as he resumed walking forward.

"FIRE!" At Eric's command, all three of them pulled the trigger to avenge their Colonel's death. Only to conjure more disbelief since their target didn't bother to evade as his body remained unscathed at the hail of bullets that just bounced away from him.

Even after unleashing every ammunition stored in their clip, not a single scratch was made in his body. Even his clothes showed on tears in their fabric.

"You finished?" he raised an eyebrow towards the stupefied and gawking squad as he flexed his arms, his smirk parted to now include his white teeth. "My turn"

The _heavy_ dashed forward and delivered a right hook on Eric's face powerful enough to send him back crashing to a van with a broken jaw. The remaining soldiers scrambled away from his but Joseph was too slow and was put into a chokehold by his left hand before throwing him face-first then stomping it to further crush his head into a flattened mess. It was this point where Marcus has finally attached a new clip into his rifle and began firing in a vain attempt to kill this man, only for the man to dash towards him then lifting him up. The unfortunate soldier let out a loud scream as his spine is smashed to the _heavy's_ steel-hard knee with a sickening crack before being thrown to the ground a few meters away from Eric's motionless form.

The _heavy_ began walking forward to the still-living soldiers, the stomp of his black combat boots resounding over the area as seconds became minutes for the incapacitated victims. Marcus managed to pull his body around to face him with a pistol in futile defiance; he returned the gesture by smashing his boot on his chest, literally crushing his heart and turning his mouth into a fountain of blood.

He stopped before the form of Eric and took several moments observing him. It appears that the American had perished by the time of the impact and given by the position of his neck, it would seem that his punch had also broken his neck.

"Enjoyed your fight Elias?"

Upon hearing his name, _heavy_ turned his head to the source of that voice and saw a silhouette standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, outlined by the moon behind him.

Yet even in the darkness of his figure he could see the crimson-red eyes peering down to him.

"Honestly, it wasn't even a challenge" Elias Acosta voiced his thoughts as he pulls out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one on a nearby burning car. "The entire thing is one-sided to my favour by the time it started"

"Indeed..." the silhouette voiced his agreement, even at the distance he could discern his voice with clarity. "... A small-scale representation in comparison to the entire operation we undertook on this city – The Americans trying to ward the insurmountable. Even after what they've all seen, they still failed to realize that resistance... is futile"

Elias picked his cigarette before blowing a smoke. "It's human nature, a cornered mouse will fight back with everything they have. All of us humans know this" he finished his explanation as he fiddled with his cigarette.

"A fair point" The silhouette admitted before moving on to the purpose of his visit. "I'm aware that you know of the situation developing in Sector Z-38"

The heavily-muscled man gave a small nod. About a minute and a half ago, he had received reports that a large grouping of American soldiers had holed up in Sector Z-38, locally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was Hiro himself who had done the report, having used the drones to relay visual information of the area.

He already knew why such amount of force concentrated there thanks to Hiro intercepting their communications. They're planning to brute-force their way to the checkpoint situated on the Steese highway. It makes sense since it was still reeling from the attack by a separate group of soldiers, having annihilated them at the price of losing a third of their overall force and their only Knightcruiser tank after a concentrated fire by three Abrams.

"Yes I am" He confessed as he extinguished his cigarette on the dead soldier's forehead. "Want me to call the cavalry and deal with them now?"

"No" the Spaniard felt his eyebrow arch at the answer he received. "Instead, have the checkpoint destroyed to draw those soldiers out and lower their guard. I'll handle this rubbish on my own. In the meantime, rendezvous in Ground Zero and await me there. The others are already inbound."

With that, the figure disappeared in a pitch-black smoke that covered a small part of the moon from Elias' view. Not bothering from such, he pressed the button on his earpiece.

"Checkpoint 01, initiate Protocol Epsilon"

 **0000000000000**

"Sir, you need to see this"

Major General Jonathan Lasky was yanked away from his internal contemplations by the voice of one of his adjutant. He lay seated on a small couch inside a second floor room that they transformed into their makeshift command centre over the past half-hour, much like how they transformed this church into a fortress – to serve as either their staging ground to escape the city...

... Or the place of their final stand.

About half a hundred survivors had converged in their bastion after the radio broadcast, most being civilians either his surviving soldiers had escorted with them or arrived armed with weapons they obtained from fallen soldiers. Curiously, none brought any weapon belonging to the invaders even with their abundance on all-over the city. They soon found the reason through the helmet-cam of one of the scouts; the moment the rifle was touched it... evaporated right before their eyes. This phenomenon doesn't seem to be limited on the weapons as any wreckage of the few invader vehicles they've brought down were subjected to it as well after some time.

This fact further validated their universal conclusion that this attack on the city is definitely a 'clean sweep' operation, as any and all vestiges of what happened will be erased along with everyone on Fairbanks.

Unknown to all even to his fellow officers, Jonathan thinks that he knows the possible reason why this is all happening.

It had been a week ago during his stay in the Pentagon at the president's attendance; he had been eavesdropping a secret meeting between the President of the United States and the high echelons of the military about these about some kind of secret project called 'DOMINION' in an undeniably serious and grim tone, telling them that it had to be stopped at all cost. Also included in the discussion is this World Order, an Illuminati-like organization that controls the entire world and their enforcers which carry out their will, the latter he could assume to be the one they're fighting.

A normal person would scoff at these seemingly outrageous speculations but given how these are coming from the very mouth of the President, the most powerful man in the world, it's substantiate enough to be held true without a single shred of doubt. This World Order definitely has the resources to fund the sorts of technology their enemy is using.

He walked towards his adjutants as they've gathered around something on the table. The military-grade laptop is connected to the headcam of the scout that had been observing the checkpoint in the Steese highway while hidden in the nearby forest, allowing them to monitor the checkpoint for any developments.

" **Sirs are you seeing this?"** Even from afar, the footage showed them exactly what just transpired in the checkpoint.

"What happened?!" Jonathan asked in a tone befitting an officer. In the past minutes when he checked it, the checkpoint was at a state of ruination; two of the half towers were a mangled wreck from the cannon fire of Abrams and about half of the soldiers stationed in there perished along with the destruction of their MBT.

Now, the entire thing is basically on fire.

" **I dunno sir, everything's normal a second ago then the damn place just exploded to kingdom come!"**

Confusion was quick to flood his mind as to why this happened. The only logical explanation would be some has successfully infiltrated the checkpoint and planted some explosives, but the presence of drones and cameras covering each section of the checkpoint averted this. But as much as he would like to ponder further, this is an opportunity they couldn't allow to go to waste.

He turned to his adjutants. "Have everyone prepped and armed, we're leaving now" he returned his attention at the screen as they left the room for downstairs where most of the surviving soldiers are staying. "In the meantime sergeant, hold your position and continue surveillance"

" **Yes sir"**

With that he turned his gaze fell to the remaining occupant on the room aside from him. "Evans, radar status."

The soldier manning the Radar computer adjusted his glasses as he remained fixed towards the screen. "Just the six objects we've detected a few minutes ago, they remain static just like befo- Wait! They just begun moving now but... the movement is outward"

If the previous development had confused him, this did even more. The obvious course of action would be mobilizing towards the checkpoint and immediately secure the area. But instead they are moving away from it, at top-speed as it appeared in the radar.

" _Perhaps they're responding to a greater priority... No, that's impossible. Their utmost goal is to exterminate everyone in the city, ignoring us would be a ludicrous action"_ as his train of thought progressed he walked over to the window and saw everyone assembled outside, already manning the vehicles they have left. In the parking lot, he watched as civilians are being loaded aboard the APCs whereas his men went to the humvees and inspected their weapons.

" _Unless..."_ His eyes widened in dreadful realization. The explosion that destroyed the checkpoint was not accidental, it was intentional – the enemy is expecting them to take the bait and try to escape now that the barrier is gone, and then ambush the unsuspecting convoy.

Of course, as the remaining highest-ranking official in the city he wouldn't let himself fall for such thing.

He deftly activated the radio strapped on his left shoulder. **"Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission!"**

Though surprised by the sudden change of plans, his men obeyed dutifully. **"All units abort. Cease operation"** he had expected military discipline to have faded long ago, but it seems that it's otherwise. He watched as all activity outside came to an orderly halt, yet confusion was abounding in their faces. There was a brief course of murmurs amongst the remaining soldiers before someone finally asked him. **"Sir, permission to ask on behalf of everyone, why are we aborting the mission?"**

"We're going according to the enemy's plan; they themselves rigged that checkpoint to blow and they're expecting us to take the bait" he liberated the radio from his hand then walked deftly towards the laptop where the scout still remained from his position as instructed. "Sergeant, you are to fall back at top-speed, pronto!"

" **Yes sir!"** Jonathan watched as the camera shuddered as the sergeant pulled himself from the ground. As he turned around however, he gasped at what he came face to face with something. Before him stands a silhouette that he wasn't even aware of its presence beforehand, the only thing inside save for the darkness was the two glowing crimson orbs peering at him.

" **Oh shit!"** that curse would be the final time Jonathan ever heard of the man as the screen immediately cuts into static.

"Sergeant!" Jonathan screamed in an attempt to reach out towards the lone soldier, the lack of response prompted him to activate his radio instead. "Sergeant Nelson, come in over!"

Someone immediately replied, though it was one of his adjutants. **"Sir what happened?"**

"I lost contact with Sergeant Nelson, the connection was suddenly cut. But before everything went dark, he saw-"

Even though his explanation was about to reach its conclusion, it was brought to an abrupt end as a loud scream erupted from their radios. The wail at such volume startled them and instilled the feeling of dread was felt by everyone as the radios use a public channel, moreso when they recognized the voice to belong to the hapless sergeant.

The agonized emanation lasted in a brief span of time before silence is all that came, but it delivered a demoralizing blow to their spirits.

The heavy silence came to an end as Evans made another report. "Sir, I'm detecting multiple objects closing fast-"

He sprang towards the window just in time to see the said objects plummet on the pavement below in a sickening crack before scattering all over the area for all to see, it wasn't long before horrified screams erupted from the civilians whereas he and his men were left petrified upon recognition.

It was the corpse of Sergeant Nelson, having recognized him when his head fell on the headlights of a humvee. The corpse had been dismembered into several pieces, the flesh where it had been cut appear to be charred and still appear to be smoking. Whatever was used to cut the unfortunate man into pieces is surely hot.

The radio frizzled into existence once again and a dark voice came. **"Salvation... is an illusion"**

Hearing objects being dropped inside the room; he turned around and saw several fragmentation grenades lying all over the floor, his eyes widened upon noticing the pins are missing.

"Oh FUCK!" Knowing what will happen in a few seconds, he dived towards the window in a force enough to shatter the glass with a similarly frantic Evans in his tail. Unfortunately, the man was positioned too far from the window to escape on time as the grenades detonated and destroyed the room while he plummeted to the pavement below, his head miraculously remaining intact from the fall.

The civilians just did nothing but scream in fright.

"Major General!" screamed one of his adjutants as they ran forward and helped him to his feet. "What happened sir?"

Jonathan opened his mouth to explain the events as he was pulled from the ground by the arms of his men, but before a single word could even leave the radio fizzled once again.

" **Face... forward... Major General"**

The speech was deliberately drawled to make it sound ominous. It is plain obvious that this is a simple employment of psychological warfare in order to impart uneasiness in their hearts. Nevertheless he complied with everyone following his gaze.

Together they beheld the sight of a figure walking towards them across the two streets before the Church, not even a single of the many burning cars that littered the streets obscuring any part of his form; each step he took forward was done with utmost confidence and a lack of fear while he held his hands behind him.

In an instant, he recognized the figure as the silhouette the sergeant had stumbled upon before his headcam went static. Though the darkness back then shrouded his entire figure from view, his entire appearance can now laid bare due to the flames from the burning cars on the streets between them.

He wore a black trench coat that is left unzipped, hanging loosely instead of clasping it and showing the similarly coloured shirt underneath. Plastered on the shirt is the crimson symbol of some kind of butterfly, whose appearance made its existence debatable. Occupying his legs and feet are trousers and a pair of formal shoes, both in the colour of black with the sole exception of the barely visible crimson-red socks.

Even though his head is covered by the hood attached to the trench coat, Jonathan could see the pitch-black hair that covered his forehead and the crimson-red eyes that weren't glowing like before.

Due to the black and red colour scheme of his apparel, his men were quick to direct their weapons at him. Those were the colours that identified the invaders; therefore they were quick to assume that this person is affiliated with them.

Though what is perturbing is that this man is not completely devoid of any weaponry, nor even anything hidden since his trained eyes could see no bulges in the trench. Even if he had one on his back it would be small and effective only at a manageable number of enemies, but facing an entire platoon-worth of soldiers if downright suicidal if that's the case.

"Hands in the air, now!" He ordered as he left the arms of his adjutants and walked forward. "We have you outnumbered and outgunned!"

Damian Balor simply watched this with a sense of amusement as he proceeded with his relaxed stroll. The Major General's threat and the gesture before yielded nothing but failure as they failed to impart the feeling of intimidation in him, not even a bit. Knowing that things are escalating fast given his refusal to concede, it's now best to assume a geared stance. Which simply took the force He removed his hands from his back and let them hang loosely, showing them dressed in black gloves that bore the same red butterfly design on his shirt.

He watched as the Major General activates his radio to relay some order to his troops. In hindsight, such act is foolish given how he has access to their communications channel on his earpiece; though he could see the logic that whatever action does not matter as long as they gave him the message.

" **Melvin, fire a warning shot"**

His gaze fell to a soldier positioned on a humvee far from the Major-General as he pressed his eye inside the scope of his rifle. It's quite obvious that this man is a designated marksman given his use of a rifle with such calibre. The soldier was quick to comply and fired a single round that actually grazed the right side of his hood. Put anyone else in this position and they would surely flinch at such proximity regardless of the fact that it was intended to be a warning shot. But he didn't, remaining unfazed and continuing forward. But he was impressed at the skill shown by this marksman, definitely befitting his designation.

How unfortunate that he had to kill him with the rest.

"This is your last chance; else I'll have my men apprehend you by force!" the Major General barked once more for him to yield. This time, he decided to entertain him by conceding to his demand and stopped beside a nearby car, a taxi to be specific, came within in arm's reach on the left-side, distanced only about a few inches away from him.

But surrender is not his intent even if that's what they think.

Since they gave him a show of force, it was only justified for him to return the favour. Damian let his fingertips touch the smooth surface of the car's hood as his eyes regained its crimson glow. He watched the disbelieving expressions of the assembled soldiers had as he reduced the taxi into a molten slag from where he touched it while the activation of his powers set red fire on the ground beneath his feet.

The show of force didn't end there as Damian made them watch in further disbelief over what he demonstrated next.

Damian balled his hands into a fist as he concentrated his power on the surrounding vehicles, then made a gesture of slowly raising his hands as all cars are simultaneously lifted in the air a few meters from the ground.

"What..." even at the distance he could hear the Major-General mutter in morbid fascination at the demonstration. "... In the name of-?"

With a single flick of his hands forward, all levitating cars were hurled towards the soldiers. Panic and disarray consumed the group as they attempted to avoid the oncoming projectiles that crashed on unfortunate Americans and toppled some of the stationary humvees; one of the hurled cars even exploded after crashing on a group of soldiers and sending those nearby flying.

The unexpected development surprised everyone as according to generalized expectations and pulled the trigger of their weapons without a second thought. As the firing mode has been set to full-auto long since the start of the invasion, a hail of bullets are spewed forth as opposed to a batch-by-batch few.

But to him, all of their amounted firepower was nothing but an outright nuisance. His mind projects an invisible field that envelops his body and flash-disintegrates any projectile that comes in contact.

Damian spanned his arms sidewards as his hands were engulfed in crimson flames, arising from them one-by-one are flaming objects in the shape of the butterfly etched on his shirt and gloves. Totalling to several dozens, they circled him in a manner to anything caught by a typhoon. At his will, they all flew up to the night sky at breakneck speed before divebombing the position of the soldiers. Chaos and disorder broke among their ranks as they were obliterated by the bombardment along with the Church, as each butterfly is as powerful as an RPG rocket.

Less than a half of a minute. It was all that it took to finish the fight – yet another decisive victory for the Black Round Table.

Even with the resulting thick cloud of smoke that engulfed the area, his eyes easily peered through with his powers. The once mighty and resolute soldiers of the United States of America have now been reduced to nothing but mangled corpses, either disremembered or just blown apart wholly. But he was surprised to find that some miraculously survived though they are left groaning in pain over their miserable state, having their limbs blasted apart or completely bisected.

He then watched as the six APCs carrying the civilians speed away in all directions in an attempt to escape the battle. He had purposely spared them from the onslaught for him to... dispatch with different methods.

Crimson electricity sparked on his hands as he lashed two bolts of lightning at the nearest APC in his reach, arching towards another and destroying them both. After that, Damian outstretched his hand at another APC and concentrated his power at it, making the vehicle combust into flames and roasting everyone inside. He did the same to another one but instead of setting it ablaze, he suspends it in the air momentarily before crushing with a closure of his hand. Two remaining APCs, who had reached the road leading to the destroyed outpost and driving side-by-side, were delivered to an abrupt halt when he induced a collision between them with a force that was enough to cause an explosion using just another gesture of his hand.

Having dealt with the escapees, Damian made the smoke vanish by telekinetically causing a rapid expansion that dissipated it in a short amount of time before he teleported to the centre of the area through a black smoke.

Crimson-coloured flames engulfed his hands once again before sprouting downward where instead of dancing wildly like it's supposed to be, some force appear to condense it into a long-triangular shape and creating a pair of what can only be described as energy swords.

One-by-one he walked towards the groaning survivors and ended their lives either by a stab or a slash. He repeated this procedure over and over again until all that was left was the Major-General, who has been displaced beside the wreckage of a humvee. The man had been left bisected to his waist and his very innards splattered on the ground

With great difficulty, Jonathan raised his head to gaze at the man looming before him. "Why...?" as he had found that moving his head alone proved to be difficult, so was speaking as it's draining whatever was left of his diminishing strength. "... Why do... all this..." his voice carried the tone of both begging and demanding over the fate that had fallen to him, his men and the city.

Since this man is nearing his last moments here in this mortal plane of existence, he decided to entertain him. "Your government was planning to raise their hands against the Order, so they saw it fit to send us and _deliver_ a message that will discourage them from proceeding."

Jonathan's eyes widened in realization. "A... show of force... that's what all of this was about" the remaining soldier in the city watched as the person before him nod in confirmation.

"But do not feel despondent..." The man continued as he deactivated his blades and dropped to a knee, bringing his eyes to level with that of his. Even in his last moments, as living after this injury he suffered is impossible, he could still feel the lingering terror whenever he stares at those ominously glowing orbs that was the eyes of this man, obviously not normal given his demonstrations back then."... China, Brazil and Italy were about to do the same thing, you're nation isn't the only one to have one of their cities levelled" the man turned his head to stare and the destruction they induced towards the city.

The mysteries of Lianyungang, Manaus and Bari have finally been solved. They have been chosen as targets by this World Order over their governments' audacity to attempt and defy their rule...

... And now Fairbanks has joined them.

"I've let you live long enough to know the reason, now it is time for you to die" Damian's right hand ignited in fire as he pointed his fingers at the Major General's head. "Farewell Jonathan" The blade materialized forward and impaled him right between his eyes, a quick death in comparison to the others that survived his onslaught.

 **000000000**

" **YOU WHAT!"**

Ever since the existence of man, the vocal tone always served as the audiotoral indicator of one's emotional state. No matter how incomprehensible one's words are, the speaker could always impart his feelings to another...

... And for this current situation it would be the feeling of anger.

"NEXUS we have assessed everything beforehand, checkpoints were established on all outlying roads and drones are patrolling the forests on a periodical basis."

Lukas watched the contretemps between Hiro and their superior on the earpiece just like the rest. It's been about five minutes since all four of them arrived on Sector O-0, which is the intersection of the David road and Wilbur Street. Hiro himself is standing atop a tumbled van, his scarlet-tinted visors had faded into transparency, allowing him to view the surrounding world with his own brown eyes and his sniper rifle lying beside his feet.

Elias can be seen on the ground with his back laid on a taxi, a freshly lit cigarette latched on his lips. Julien himself was atop the same vehicle, lying on the front as if it was a bed and compensating his boredom by stargazing until their superior contacted them just a few seconds ago.

Lukas himself is sitting atop one of their APCs in a position that put all three of them on his frontal view. Beside him were his ruby-red facemask, having long since unclasped them from his face and exposing his face for all to see. His eyes were as golden as his hair whereas his mouth and nose, along with the rest of his lower-face, remain obscured by the black balaclava he wore.

Assembled before them were a small portion of the soldiers under their command, having led them in this operation of besieging Fairbanks. The black-armoured men were individually arranged in rectangular 7x10 formations and led by the those higher in their overall command structure, joining them are an assortment of vehicles ranging from Rhino APCs to Knightcruisers.

This only represents a small portion of their army since most were still conducting patrols in the city along with the aerial drones, its better safe than sorry to let any survivors escape.

" **You cannot diverge from the assigned protocol and for the sake of satiating your collective whim for destruction, all five of have basically placed the entire operation at stake!"**

He continued to watch as the Japanese man deal with the situation in his seemingly perpetual collected manner. As it is their private channel being tapped into, they could hear the exchange between their superior and Japanese compatriot as opposed to being one-sided on the latter's part, much like trying to listen to a conversation between someone and their mobile phone.

At the background of Hiro is a massive structure, bearing the shape of a cylinder and standing at the height of three meters; it's metallic surface is painted in the colour of black much like that of them and their army. The same goes for the crimson-glowing lines that gave it a segmented appearance. At the base of the object is a console where one could interact with it. Out of their entire local arsenal, this _payload_ held the most importance as the success of the operation solely lies on it.

The Molecular Interaction Nullifier or MIN may not be considered as the most powerful WMD in the contemporary era, but it can be considered the most effective WMD in human history. The MIN is quite similar to its kind, namely being capable of causing destruction on a large scale. But what makes it unique is how it induces the destruction. Whereas its brethren destroy everything in its reach be it living or material but leaves some identifiable residues of the two, the MIN pulverizes everything by nullifying the molecular bonds of anything in its radius, hence the name. What's more is that it doesn't produce any seismic activity or damage to the environment like the nuclear weapons by the world's most powerful nations, adding to its effectiveness due to its undetectable and environment-friendly nature.

The origin of his their superior's fury can be traced back before the commencement of the operation. They were supposed to follow the standard protocol of covertly delivering the MIN at the city's designated ground zero and exfiltrating at top-speed after setting the timer, much like they've done on similar operations in China, Brazil and Italy in the past weeks. It was a quick and effective procedure as the operations were finished in a matter of minutes and no equipment was expended other than the payload itself.

But for Fairbanks, they had unanimously plotted to take a _different_ approach on their superiors' back.

It had been about a month and a half since they've undertaken some combat. The World Order summoned them to annihilate an Al-Qaeda cell that had been planning to kidnap an important person that has ties with them. At the dead of the night, they went to the isolated town that was hiding the said pocket of terrorists and slaughtered the locals to the outmost.

As such, they've _gotten_ bored by the uneventful days which prompted them to assault the city head-on.

" **An operation..."** another voice inserted itself in the conversation uninvited before a black smoke conjured in the middle and disappeared to reveal the presence of their final compatriot. His very appearance alone immolated the vegetation around the area. An ordinary person would've been startled by this act, but all of them were unfazed as they've gotten used to his demonstrations of power. The same goes for their soldiers, not out of being accustomed like them, but due to their emotions being _nullified_ during their recruitment.

"... That has been achieved nonetheless" Damian finished in a calm demeanour as he gazed at Hiro, gesturing him that he'll handle the matter from now on. "As my compatriot said, we've taken great care to ensure that nothing gets out of this city and jeopardize the operation, something we wouldn't want as well. Everything has been neutralized with extreme prejudice and patrols are still underway, there's nothing to worry about"

What came next from their superior is a deep sigh, a sign of admission for his reasoning. **"Very well, proceed with the objective and finish this. We don't need to remind any of you of your new assignment tomorrow, NEXUS out"**

Silence arose as their superior disconnected the communications link to their channel, leaving the only source of sound to be the raging fires that is consuming the vegetation.

"Is this really necessary _mein freund_ _?_ " Lukas was quick to ask out-loud upon their superior's departure. Damian could swear that it was a sentiment shared by the rest as evidenced by the way they look at him.

"Yes..." Damian spoke in truthful admission, yet upon the examination of his tone one could see the grudging reluctance at being forced to do their assignment tomorrow. "We have to. _He_ has what we're looking for."

After years of progress, the DOMINION project has finally reached its final stages. Unfortunately, the project hit a snag due to the lack of a crucial component, termed AO due to its importance. With the project coming to a screeching halt, it had been their primary mission since then – find something that would fulfill its role.

"Do we really have a choice" quipped Hiro, who is unwilling to do it much like the rest. "There should be alternatives right? We'll be out in the open, not to mention the risk of exposure for the World Order would be considerably high"

It was about a month ago. Lord Nemo Vaughan contacted them along with the infamous Chris Mclean during one of the Black Round Table's personal meetings with the High Circle, the leaders of the World Order, having disclosed their existence to him. It was all possible since Lord NV, being the richest man in the world, has ties with the World Order and even has a seat in one of their circles.

Initially, just like all who uncovered the World Order's existence, they were to _silence_ Mclean whilst the Circle comes up with a punishment for NV given his actions. But they held back upon the narcissistic fool revealing his awareness with the DOMINION as well and showing them the object they're exactly looking for, and proving it through a little demonstration. Lord NV revealed that the object was something his company has created some time ago at the cost of several billion dollars and had deliberately chose to keep its existence hidden, instead using it to create that wonder island of his.

This is without a doubt the _sole_ reason why the construction of Eden Island is staggeringly expensive.

This prompted the Circle to demand what the duo wants as it was the logical reason for contacting them. Mclean revealed his reason – he wants them, the Black Round Table, to participate in his show for the sake of greater _drama_. Of course, all of them vehemently voiced their disapproval as it would expose the World Order; Mclean's response was nearly destroying the object. Lord NV revealed that while the object is indeed powerful, it is also extremely fragile as a few smashes of hammer brought spanning cracks on its surface.

Given how something they want is at stake, the Circle was forced to comply. But NV was merciful enough to convince Mclean to keep the existence of the project hidden and give them special privileges in the contest, something that was at least alleviating for them and the Circle.

"We don't _have_ any" Damian reaffirmed, voicing every word with complete displeasure at being forced in the corner. "It's the only way"

A loud crack was heard as a gauntleted fist slammed the ground, crushing the pavement below. "Damn you, Mclean" Elias muttered in boiling rage.

"But at least, we will have company" Damian proclaimed in a sudden change of mood. "Wilsworth will be competing"

This revelation lit their faces with surprise as they cast him disbelieving stares.

"Wilsworth's alive?" Julien asked, speaking for the first time.

"Impossible" Lukas muttered in disbelief. "He was barely clinging to life when we left him in that meadow six months ago"

"A decision we must regret, by a twist of fate Mr. Chef Hatchet had stumbled upon him sometime after we left" Damian replied. "Nevertheless, we'll deal with him tomorrow. For now, this operation" he spanned his hands as his eyes glowed red once again and levitates from the ground. He didn't only limit the reach of his power to him as Lukas, Julien, Elias and Hiro found themselves dragged upward along with the vehicles their resting on. Closing his hands, he tore apart the vehicles into several pieces and welded them into each other to form a rough yet stable stage before the MID to overlook the assembled army. Damian descended on the stage with the rest of the Black Round Table standing by his side.

Before Damian could begin his speech, he and everyone registered the sound of afterburners coming from the night sky. Looking up with the rest of the Black Round Table, they watched as their Hovercraft approach directly overhead and hovered just above them.

 **(AN: This is the one from the Hunger Games series)**

"Listen up!" Damian began in an air of overwhelming authority, not even being dampened by the blares of the aircraft's afterburners. "Each and every single one of you has been briefed of our operation tomorrow. That is, our participation in the Total Drama competition by Chris Mclean in order to acquire component AO for the completion of the DOMINION Project. In our absence, command shall be relegated to the High Circle of the World Order for until further notice, but we will reassume leadership in the event no contest would take place for the day"

Damian turned back and reached his hand at the MIN's control console, using the power of telekinesis to prime the timer.

" **Sequence initiated. Detonation in T minus 30 minutes"** the MIN's computer transmitted the announcement of its activation at all communications channel. The soldiers around them quickly piled inside their APCs in an organized chaos and began driving away from the MIN to the rally point at top-speed.

With their soldiers evacuating, Damian teleported themselves into the insides of the Hovercraft and leaving the stage in a dissipating black smoke.

30 minutes later, the city had been completely deserted. No soul was left to tread the streets as the Black Round Table slew everything that lived here, who had long since reached the rally point and left behind the MIN.

Having completed the countdown. The crimson lighting of the MIN began glowing intensely, cracks began appearing all-over its body as the rising energy levels are exceeding that of what can the structural integrity maintain. It wasn't long before the structure finally gave in and explodes to unleash an extremely luminous flash of red light that engulfed the entire city and everything else in a radius of 7 km. After the light died down, all that's left was a mass of powder stretching over the area that is the conglomeration of elementary particles.

The entire process just took a single second.

* * *

Morality. A set of values classifying right and wrong; it is this concept that had aided man since the dawn of civilization to make decisions that shaped their very future. It is a crucial component of a civilized being, what separates them from savage barbarians.

It is the concept that sums the young man sitting beside a desk within the confines of a darkened room. His black hair is styled in a 'Mountain Man' haircut whereas his blue eyes remained focused on the screen. His clothes consists of a white collared-shirt with rolled-up sleeves under a brown ballistic vest that was a friend of his late father gave to him as a gift in his 9th birthday, a member of the SWAT. His legs were clothed in blue jeans and finally, his hands and feet were wearing pairs of fingerless gloves and shoes, both which were brown in color.

The very atmosphere was dark and foreboding ever since he had immersed his entire attention on the laptop on his table for almost the past hour.

News articles concerning mysterious incidents that happened in China, Brazil and Italy.

At first, all contact with the city was lost then what's and when their respective governments went to investigate all they met was a wide pile of fine particles that stretched over where the city used to be and the surrounding area. Upon examination, it was revealed that they were the remnants of the cities as the fine particles were elements constitutes the infrastructure of the city. Virtually every scientist was restlessly trying to figure out how was this possible ever since the news first hit, as it was impossible for solid matter, let alone buildings, to just turn into a powdered-state in an instant. What's chilling is that the inhabitants were also missing, even though as search parties were dispatched everyone has already concluded that they met the same fate as the city they live in. Even though still unexplainable, many were quick to jump on the conclusion that these incidents are terrorist attacks.

The nature of these attacks threw the world in turmoil as governments went on high alert in fear of being targeted next, the attacked countries even declaring martial law. Everyone is basically afraid that their homes would be next; he couldn't blame them as it was a predictable response to a disaster. No terrorist have claimed responsibility over the attacks as such widespread destruction was even beyond their capabilities, instead claiming it as the 'Punishment from God' along with the other extremes of religion. Needless to say these worked effectively, as religious groups take the streets to ramble about the coming of Judgment day and harassing bystanders to repent for any sin they committed.

If he wasn't seething in anger right now, he would've rolled his eyes at how stupid those people are. One of the ridiculous attributes of humanity is the tendency to associate of anything unexplainable to something divine.

Good thing he isn't one of those deluded idiots.

" _Monsters"_ It was the word that accurately described the perpetrators of these attacks as they effortlessly claimed the lives of thousands. _"Just what are they trying to achieve in murdering countless people?"_ he continued to glare at the screen upon scrolling down on the pictures of the site.

His musings didn't proceed any further as someone knocked his door. The light tapping on the smooth wood yanked his attention back to the surroundings.

"Abraham dear, Mr. Hatchet is here" this news somewhat lightened his mood as his furrowed eyes pulled back and relaxed into normality. He had received the schedule in his email and was surprised that he was the last to be picked-up, allowing him to work on a normal schedule with added overtime this day. His co-workers were aware of his audition which is why they wished him good luck in the competition and hopefully win.

Heeding the call of his aunt, Christopher Abraham Washington, or Abraham as he preferred, abandoned his chair with his laptop in his hands and went to his bed where a blue duffel bag is sitting. Aside from clothing and other necessities, he had brought along that little pet project he had been working for months. It has reached its final stages and it was only a matter of time before it reaches its completion. In hindsight, people would think of this project as something that from college… but that wasn't the case as this was beyond a mere project, it's a unique invention; having pooled the knowledge he'd gained from the fields of mechanics, engineering and computing into this endeavor.

Ever since his childhood, he has a fascination with technology. He could remember the times where his late-parents scolding him for routinely tinkering with electronics and usually grounding him for it. Even at a young age he had taken up to reading college-level books in a multitude of libraries in an effort to further his knowledge about them and even other subjects as a bonus. Both of these habits contributed him into being a very intelligent individual at the fair age of 9 and being always at the top of his class.

His late parents had polarizing opinions about this though.

His father, an office worker, was strongly opposed to this as he had become secluded from social life and it was proving to be a constant drain on their earnings while his mother, a kind-hearted high-school teacher who was the source of his household books and fees for the library, encouraged him instead. Arguments between them had spurned, but it was not heated like anyone would assume.

Fitingly for his character, he was a scrawny wimp back then. He never paid much attention to his body as it was to focused on the acquisition of knowledge, which led to him being regularly picked on by the larger kids.

After placing his laptop inside, he strapped the bag over his shoulder and waltzed towards the doorway. Their house was small in size, it was all that his family could afford. It didn't house much luxuries as they barely indulge in said luxuries as they're too focused in sustaining themselves.

After making his way downstairs to the living room, he is greeted by the sight of his other relative.

Ezra Weinraub is an aging man long confined to a wheelchair. Despite the man's now evident fragility at the age of nearly a hundred, he still had the strength to pull a bright smile in the presence of his only grandchild. On his lap was a fresh plate of Jewish delicacy, the Yemenite malawach.

This sight alone was enough to completely evaporate whatever grim mood that has remained in him. "Grandpa, you really shouldn't have." Abraham said while munching on the hot bread after his grandfather handed them out to him.

Ezra could only chuckle with amusement. "Balderdash, child. You need to keep your strength up if you want to go further in the competition." The wheelchair bound old man spoke in a faded German accent, having been born in Warsaw, Poland in the early 20th century

"I agree, considering the well-known _antics_ of Mr. Mclean. But the competition isn't my only focus, I'm investigating about the _incidents_ in the past weeks while on the show" he took another bite

"Right those mysterious attacks on those cities." His grandfather sighed, his mood fading into a serious one as he placed his hand on the Abraham's shoulder, inevitably revealing a serial number that had been tattooed above his forearm. Even for his dauntlessness, seeing this was always unsettling as it was the reminder of the greatest atrocities committed on his people, moreso for his grandfather as he had lived through it. "I know our family has suffered great injustice over the past hundred years; you and I are living proof of that. But don't let it consume your life. Try to have fun on your trip"

It was true. Their line had experienced suffering after suffering for the past centuries for being of Jewish descent.

As evidenced by the writing on his forearm, Ezra Weinraub and entire family were but a few of the millions of victims of the Holocaust during the era of the Nazi Germany. Life in the camp of Auschwitz was so brutal that only he, the youngest of the family, survived by the time the Red Army of the Soviet Union liberated the camp, though at the cost of his legs. He had since been adopted by the family of his eventual wife as they immigrated here in the US with the hopes for a better life. The following years was what he called his happiest period in his life as he raised his two daughters with every ounce of love he could muster until his new family and beloved were taken away from him once again by an antisemitic mob who burned down their house. His daughters had to stop schooling and work to support themselves.

It was some years later when Galina Weinraub, Ezra's eldest and Abraham's mother, met his father Caleb Washington during a fateful stroll in the park. Ezra didn't frown upon his daughter's choice as a husband like any other Jewish father would, moreso when the man himself is not bound to any religion. He was content on letting her obey her heart. With Caleb's marriage to her, they were elevated from the lower-class division into the lower middle-class of the United States; still low but it felt good to finally rise from poverty after decades.

With Caleb and Galina's marriage, they brought Abraham to this world. His birth shone some light in Ezra's tormented heart especially when he first carried him in his hands. But sadly, even he wasn't spared from the curse that had been imposed by fate to their family line.

At the age of 10, the young boy had watched helplessly as his parents were gunned down before his eyes whereas Ezra and his other daughter Galilah had their already broken hearts break even more, moreso for Ezra as he suffered a heart attack days after their deaths. This experience left him traumatized even now and had a profound effect on him, losing his innocence had replaced his then joyous personality with a hardened psyche as trained rigorously to mold his body into something stronger, vowing to never be powerless again. To his grandfather and aunt's adamant disapproval, part of the said training was physically subduing his tormentors in the neighborhood one-by-one. The end result was either him battering his foes or him being the one battered, something that had routinely placed him on juvie but always escaping due to having learned the arts of doing so. Knowing that he couldn't stop his grandson and possibly get himself killed, Ezra enlisted the aid of his Chinese friend along with some of the retired Spetsnaz soldiers that liberated him in Auschwitz into teaching Abraham in martial arts. Abraham proved to be a fast-learner as expected and it utilized his knowledge to the utmost in completely subduing his tormentors into submission.

Placing himself atop the food-pyramid in his own words. Those who used to bully him now fear his presence alone.

Oh how the tables have turned.

"I'll try Grandpa, I've seen the show. It won't be very fun to go through." Abraham said in an attempt to lighten the mood as he finished the dish and set the plate back on his grandfather's lap.

Galilah entered the door. "Abe dear, you might want to come now. Mr. Hatchet's getting impatient." Of course the Chef's impatience is justified, that lunatic he had for a boss forced him into this unpleasant task in the first place and had provided him little to no time of rest.

"I'll see you in a couple of months..." He hunched down to hug his grandfather. "... Goodbye" then to his aunt, both returning the favour in return. He walked to the door and had opened it when his grandfather called his attention for the last time.

"Abe..." the Jewish youth turned to see something in the old man's arms. "...You nearly forgot this" he said as he handed out his grandson's fedora, black in colour and bore the Star of David on the side.

Abraham put's the headwear on its intended place. "Stay safe you two" it was his final parting message as he closed the door.

Now outside, he stoically walked to the limousine, where Chef waited impatiently tapping the steering wheel of the the extended vehicle, and trying to swat a fly away.

"About time kid. You're going to have to work on your reactionary time if you want make it far in the game." The cook remarked in annoyance over the time it took him to leave his house. Abraham decided to amuse Chef by using his reflexes to grab the fly and release it out the window. The testament of skill left the man speechless for about a second before he let out a whistle of impression.

"Damn, might've underestimated you maggot. Alright hop in so I can finish this _delivery_ quick" Abraham wordlessly complied and entered the limousine, impressed at the luxuries presented inside much like the rest. But he never paid a long attention to any of these as he stared back at his house, his aunt and grandfather overlooking him from the window as the car drove away.

It wasn't long when they finally disappeared from his view as they got farther. Now, he leaned on the couch as he powered the Flatscreen with the nearby remote, opening to a cooking channel. He inputted the channel number of CNN as he was more interested in seeing the news especially regarding the attacks, hopefully there was some good this time.

Unfortunately, it would appear to be not the case.

Right on the screen is the city of Fairbanks, or at least what used to be as it was now a smoking wide heap of powder that stretched across where the city used to be. The reporter, who was onboard the helicopter as his cameraman filmed the area below, began his duty in a shocked tone that befits the scene.

" **Are you all seeing this?** **This is all that remains of Fairbanks. An hour and a half ago, all contact in the city was lost under mysterious circumstances and by the time the National Guard arrived to investigate, this is all that's left of the city. Similar incidents have occurred in China, Brazil and Italy in the past weeks. Who are doing this and why are the questions buzzing in everyone's head as authorities from the nations affected still have no lead..."**

"No..." Abraham muttered in wide-eyed horror at the sight of the devastation. Another tens of thousands had mounted on the countless lives claimed by the attacks and the perpetrators still remain unknown and at large.

"My god, it's the US this time" Abraham heard Chef Hatchet voice an equally horrified response. "Those guys sure doesn't have any fear over whoever they're attacking" He was referring to the perpetrators and the audacity they posses over inflicting a blow on the most powerful nation on the world, a blow heavier than the 9/11 of Osama bin-laden and his Al-Qaeda lackeys.

"Yeah..." Abraham agreed before putting his analytical skills to use. "... Given what they're capable of, they're clearly more dangerous than all known terrorist organizations, possibly even as strong as the United States" It was an adequate hypothesis of the perpetrators' aptitude. Whoever they are, they're powerful enough to inflict a series of direct blows on several nations; so powerful that they make all known terrorists look a petty annoyance in comparison.

It's clear that they're using some kind of secretly developed and virtually unknown weapon to not only cause this type of destruction but also serve as their equalizer to the West's nuclear arsenal, thereby putting them on the position of a superpower despite being a non-governmental entity. It's even highly possible that they have an army to challenge the military might of the United States.

"Now that's terrifying, I'm afraid that we could be next" even for a person with an aura of intimidation, Chef Hatchet is not immune to the emotion of fear just like all living beings. "All this news is making me worry for my daughter and granddaughter"

Seeing that they weren't any good news as he had hoped, he powered down the TV to spare himself of the horrific disaster. With scores of human life lost again, anger arose within him again with renewed intensity, which disappeared during his last moments with his family, as he vowed to find a way to end this.

" _I'll stop you..."_ his now furrowed eyes shut as he attempted to clear his thoughts to focus. _"Not today, nor tomorrow. But I swear that I'll stop you"_

 **AN: There you have it folks, the long awaited update.**

 **Given how their clothing is different from what I've written, I made some changes in the OCs section in the first chapter again, for the last time I swear. In the Black Round Table's section, I simplified Damian and Elias' labels.**

 **Now that I've mentioned them, I'm pretty sure that your eyebrows were raised as all of you went through their sections. Back in the first chapter, I did tell you that the Black Round Table are powerful and destructive but you're probably never expecting them to be this powerful and destructive (actually destroying several cities); They're working for an Illuminati-like organization and even having command over an entire army, what's more is that they have a powerful superweapon in their arsenal and capable of launching attacks on several countries.**

 **Fortunately for the contestants, they are obviously forbidden from employing their army during the competition by Chris Mclean along with the High Circle of the World Order as well as killing any of their fellow competitors. But even without their army, the BRT are still formidable opponents as you've seen, they can steamroll the competition without much effort. The only explanation I can give is that all five of them are** _ **far**_ **from ordinary humans.**

 **Wilsworth – It's what they refer to Cody. They call him by that surname instead of Anderson as was written in the wiki. The reason for this will be revealed later in the fic, but it's related to his past with Damian.**

 **If you haven't noticed yet, the rating of this fic has now been changed to 'M' since there will be dark and violent moments, usually surrounding Cody and the Black Round Table.**

 **The next update would be the** _ **official**_ **start of this fic, as it's now set on Eden Island on the day of the competition. It will come after an unprecedented amount of time since I'm focusing my attention on my other fics along with the ones I've planned, especially my upcoming masterpiece which I aim to publish by the end of the year.**

 **Also, please don't send your choices for the poll in the reviews like in the previous chapter. The purpose of the reviews is to give feedback on the chapter.**

 **... And please say something about the OCs.**

 **But before this chapter comes to an end, I have two last things for you readers.**

 **First is that** **here are the age and height of the OCs, according to their creators themselves.**

 **FORMAT: AGE / HEIGHT**

 **Gregor: 21 / Same as Lightning.**

 **Alice: 20 / Same as Gwen.**

 **Pansy: 22 / Same as Sierra.**

 **Josh: 20 / Same as Duncan.**

 **Lucy: 19 / Slightly taller than Duncan.**

 **Ryder: 20 / Same as Beth.**

 **Slade: 21 / Same as DJ.**

 **Spade: 21 / Same as DJ.**

 **Zara: 22 / A little bit taller than Trent.**

 **Amy: 20 / Same as Gwen.**

 **Valerie: 19 / A little bit taller than Duncan.**

 **Neil: 20 / Same as Tyler.**

 **Kai: 20 / Same as Geoff.**

 **Ivan: 20 / Same as Alejandro.**

 **Wilbur: 14 / Same as Cameron**

 **Julissa: 20 / Same as Heather.**

 **Abel: 20 / Same as Duncan.**

 **Amber: 21 / Slightly taller than Gwen.**

 **Damian: 23 / Mouth-level of DJ.**

 **Lukas: 22 / Same as Alejandro.**

 **Julien: 21 / Chin-level of DJ**

 **Elias: 24 / eye-level of Rodney.**

 **Hiro: 23 / Same as Jasmine.**

 **Abraham: 20 / Same as Alejandro.**

 **Second is this, something I've prepared just for your readers. I would like you all to try and solve the code below as a recreation while you wait for the update; the message embedded is a pattern which defines a life-changing even that will be experienced by two contestants during the competition, and it is because of this why TDE would be the last Total Drama for one of them (I have a sequel for TDE planned).**

 **Be sure to send your findings in PM so I can determine whether you got it right or not, and know that I will ignore those sent in the reviews.**

 **915713957935715791974628424882482429759359591573379**

 **157555511351357171537248482864284825315135151397579**

 **173597391375913735719324642624246241937597519713579**

 **359353959353539395934864868464868841353113135153135**

 **375173175137735317682628682682682687597597597597595**

 **197177977179771148648468484488486489173597391735913**

 **153513553153351382428284284282868247957391739379177**

 **393953953953959962846824628468268261937937937917973**

 **173957197359357516248268426864682683553973917973919**

 **917591739317191351626286286286826865795955979795759**

 **357931759137917593346264262664626461953919195399395**

 **951739137937171393791846826824682863953959395393933**

 **917953173977337917379788888888888885975759759757579**

 **Till next time...**


	5. Ep 1, Pt 1: A Motherload of Campers

**AN: I suppose an apology is in order for taking me this long to update, keeping you readers waiting for about a year and few months until a new chapter is added.**

 **But in defence, I am not without my reasons. Believe it or not, the late-2017 had been a hectic time for me. Despite schoolwork, I did have plenty of time to write but not the motivation, and I don't want to half-ass my undertaking with the barest of efforts.**

 **Another, and perhaps the primary reason, would be my demoralisation following the… meagre and simple reviews in the previous chapter. Despite placing a lot of effort in making it 20k, it only garnered over 4 reviews. Seriously, the other contestants were disregarded in favour of this fic's main antagonists - the Black Round Table - and the puzzle at the end. It dismayed me greatly, but not that I can blame you. I can understand that minds get hooked with whatever's exciting and are likely to comment on that. But still, I encourage readers to try doing better reviews.**

 **I have a new rule in place for this fics by the way. Reviewing about the ANs are now** _ **strictly**_ **prohibited, the reviews are intended for the main content of the chapter and not the words of the author. If you want to say something about the chapter's AN then send it via PM instead and not here in the review section.**

 **With all prologue chapters published, we finally arrived at the official start of the fic. This chapter serves as the first part of the introductory episode and consists of roughly 30k words. I concur that its plain overkill, but I'm justified here; I set my word count to 10k but I greatly underestimated the number of contestants, so I wound up having more. The next chapter** _ **might**_ **feature less word count since it's just the OCs needing to be introduced.**

 **While writing this chapter, I used GoldEmblem's Total Drama Supreme as a template for the introductions of the Veterans. So don't be surprised when you notice some similarities.**

 **Huge credit to my partner in crime Skillet28561 for helping me out here. I return the favour by helping him with his fic Malevolence.**

 **Also, big thanks to Rufus T. Serenity for Beta-reading this chapter.**

 **With all said, let go!**

* * *

 **A Motherload of Campers**

* * *

"We'll be live in ten seconds, Mr. Mclean."

The famed Chris Mclean grinned in response to the cameraman as he stood ramrod straight on the docks. His face clean, and clothes immaculate from any flaws that would present an unfavourable view to the camera.

Here he was, standing on Eden Island – the setting of this new season and the property of the world-renowned trillionaire Lord Nemo Vaughan. The man was here with him, and Chef on the island, but elsewhere since he intended to appear later. Furthermore, he was occupied with running diagnostics on the island to make sure everything was going smoothly – quite a display of meticulousness.

One glance alone and one could tell that there was a lot of new things this season.

The island itself was – for the lack of better words – possessed a landmass larger than Wawanakwa and Pahkitew combined. It had the general feature of the green and lush scenery very common among islands as every corner teemed with life, but the vegetation seemed to be dense from a local viewpoint. However, what gave the island a geological uniqueness was the large lake at the centre; connected to the ocean through a network of small narrow rivers carving the island.

Although unlike Wawanakwa or Pahkitew, it seemed to have semblances of the two in the form of cliffs and hills decorating the island – as if made it in memory of the two islands of Total Drama before their untimely demises; Wawanakwa sank into the deep crushing abyss while Pahkitew was seized by the Canadian Government after the Scarlett Disaster. Nevertheless, Eden Island would carry on as the next setting of the contest.

The docking area was very different, linear in shape and attached to a large horizontal platform on the beach itself. It was made of strong wood and supported by pillars of the same material above the sea and sand.

Given the number of contestants arriving individually, It would certainly be a long wait – one that would test the physical and mental endurance of the arrivals under the slow march of time – to completely deliver all participating personalities here in the island. Chris would've enjoyed such bloodless torment of aching legs, but overruled it in favour of saving the torment for this season' myriad of challenges. Therefore, large wooden bleachers were erected on the beach – large enough to accommodate the whole cast. It had seven rows and divided into three sections by two aisles.

Across the beach weren't run-down cabins where the contestants would sleep that could be recalled from Wawanakwa. Rather, a foliage of trees dense enough to obscure the island from the arrivals.

The opening of this season diverged from those of its predecessors. Right now, the first moments of the Contest were being televised not under the birth of a new day, but rather it's passing into night. A sunset hung over the western horizon – to the left should one use Chris as a positional index. This was planned by Chris Mclean, who – in a rare act of charity – allowed the contestants a peaceful night in the island before putting them through the strenuous series of challenges.

"We're live in five… four … three… two… one…"

"Weeeeee're back folks!" Chris started in complete jubilation; to be before the eyes of millions around the world once again after six months of interval felt refreshing for a man with titanic ego. "Total Drama has reeeturned! For six seasons, you have watched our contestants battle their way in the competition for the grand prize of one million dollars. You've also seen sadness, laughter, angry words, heartbreaks and humiliations. Our ratings have been golden ever since… though I have to say that Revenge and Pahkitew's slumped, and we all know why."

Obviously, a significant portion of the fandom wasn't thrilled about the induction of new contestants into the Show; having grown fond of the first generation - the originals - and consider them solely worthy to compete in Total Drama. Therefore, sidelining them wasn't well received.

"To thank you all, we prepared something very special. This season will be the greatest because all previous contestants of Total Drama will be competing… altogether!" Chris announced. "And all the action will be set here on Eden Island." Thumbs were pointed down. It wasn't long before the faint sounds of a watercraft reached his ears. "Now let's welcome our returnees."

The first boat arrived and parked beside the dock's linear pathway, where the show's sassy sister waved at the camera with a smile etched on her face. "Hey y'all, this girl's back in the house." She waved to the viewing world with vigour accumulated from inactivity as the boat made a U-turn, before returning to where it came.

"It seems like our Bootylicious Leshawna is the first to come." Chris remarked. "Ready to dominate this competition?"

"Certainly. This time imma win myself a million bucks." The contestant walked past him towards the end of the dock, where she sat in the centre.

The second boat came with a muscular Jamaican on-board. "DJ." The Host greeted before teasing him over his exploits during his latest participation. "Ready to hurt more animals this season?"

It made the arrival cringe, remembering well what happened in World Tour. "Ain't gonna happen again, I promised myself to be extra careful this season." He then joined Leshawna, who gave him a hug.

Another boat arrived and a skinny girl stepped off. "Katie and…" Chris paused, noticing something _very very_ odd. "Hey wait, where's Sadie? Isn't she supposed to be in the same boat with you?"

For reasons unknown, Katie frowned at that name. She was quick to inform them the justification for such expression unfit for her kind-hearted nature. "Oh, about that Chris. I just want you to know that we're not friends anymore."

Chris was taken aback. "Really! What happened?" Of course, his reaction was entirely a facade to conceal his foreknowledge about them.

"Yeah girl." Leshawna pointed out. "We thought you two were inseparable?" Of course, it was an unexpected development unforeseen by anyone familiar with the BFFFLs.

"We got into a fight sometime after World Tour." Katie nonchalantly explained. However, Chris – along with Leshawna and DJ – leered at her suspiciously and it took her a few seconds to realize what are they're thinking. "And no! It's not about Trent or any boy. Cross my heart guys." She said, holding her arms up defensively before joining the others.

The fourth boat arrived and stomping out is someone that made the first comers anxious, for it was someone known for her irascible personality and thought to be never to compete again after the first season. But seasonal mandate and popular demand overturned such fate.

"Eva!" Chris called the woman with faux jubilation. "Finally back after her short time in the first season."

The Iron Woman of Eastern European origin wordlessly paced towards the bleachers, the perpetual frown ever remaining on her face. She didn't bother to even look at the Host and but she could notice the sham in his expression. She sat far back from the gathered contestants, given that most find her short-temper uncomfortable enough to associate.

Another boat arrived, bringing a red-headed boy to the dock.

"Harold, the nerd with the mad-skills."

Harold smiled at Leshawna upon seeing her, but was saddened when she responded by shaking her head. Deflated, he walked towards them.

"Don't worry man, you'll get her back… maybe." Chris implored at the depressed teen with a tint of mockery.

"Look, it's Tyler!" DJ pointed his finger at the large body of water as the aforementioned contestant sped towards the dock in a jet-ski. Unfortunately, his clumsiness proved itself once again as his watercraft hit something and tumbled, sending the jock spinning out of control in mid-air before crashing face first on the dock; loud cracks sounding audibly from the harsh contact, eliciting a round of cringes from everyone.

"Ohhh, that's gotta hurt!" Chris winced, with the others following suit while the downed jock just crawled towards the contestants with his mostly intact hands.

"Didn't he do something like that back in TDI?" Harold asked as Tyler crawled beside him using his hands, vividly remembering the stunt he pulled in the very first episode of Total Drama.

"Yeah." Eva answered. "But this one's much more painful."

The seventh boat arrived to deliver the next arrival, her face in a scowl that showed intense displeasure. "Gwen, happy to compete again?" Chris casually mocked, only to recoil back moments later as the Goth brought her face to his.

"Not. Even. A F **/BLEEP/** G BIT!" Gwen screamed in evident anger. She then walked to the bleachers and was immediately hugged by both DJ and Leshawna. Instantly, her anger subsided as she returned the favour accompanied by a smile creeping on her face. ' _At least my friends are here with me in this hell.'_

Hell. That's how she could describe this show, forced to partake in dangerous schemes by an increasingly sadistic ringmaster.

Another boat came, and stepping out was an Asian girl with a scowl that was more than capable of matching Gwen's.

"Heather." The Host introduced as she walked towards, or rather stomped towards him.

"Happy to abuse us again are you, Mclean?" Heather glared at the Host as she crossed her arms.

Chris just pointed his thumb at the gathered contestants in annoyance. "Just go where the others are." He said rather impatiently. With a groan, she complied.

"Welcome back to the competition, spoiled daddy's girl." Leshawna jeered her rival as she took the left aisle, lips twisted into a sneer.

"Yeah." Gwen snickered, joining Leshawna's attempts to make Heather's mood sourer. "Hope you last long this season without experiencing any major misfortune – like in TDI and TDWT."

Heather could do nothing but growl as she sat further from the two. Her hair being shaved and losing the well-deserved million dollars were some of the worst moments of her life.

"It's called karma, White Girl. _Karma_!" Leshawna added in an effort to aggravate the Queen Bee even more.

The ninth boat arrived. As opposed to the two previous girls, the passenger was – for the lack of better words – fired up for the competition.

"Geoff-ster." Chris high-fived the ever-enthusiastic cowboy.

"Sup brah!" Geoff fist-bumped him. "Can't wait for this party to start."

"So am I man!"

The tenth boat came and dropped an obese teenager.

"Owen." Another person disembarked the boat. "And Noah?! Aren't you supposed to be on a different boat?"

"Actually, _this_ is my boat." The Schemer explained, a thumb at the watercraft. "Owen's broke down, so he had to hitch a ride here."

"Well that explains it." DJ said.

Either because he was too absorbed in his own thoughts or Owen found some arcane trick to enable size-defying speeds, Chris suddenly found himself in one of the Big Oaf's crushing bear hugs.

"Chris, It's so great to be back." Immersed in euphoria, Owen was unable to notice the pure discomfort written in the Host's face as he struggled in vain to escape. Laughter rang out from the bleachers at his own misfortune, perhaps happy to see him on the wrong side of sadism.

"Yeah." Chris struggled with what little air remaining in his lungs. "Please... put me down… NOW!" Owen did so, now seeing the discomfort in his face. The Host hunched down, his lungs thirsting for air. The two made their way to the rest where most contestants hugged the lovable Oaf, his sarcastic friend smiling at the sight. Owen chuckled. "Oh man, I missed you guys so much."

"So were we, Big Guy." Tyler replied. Heather simply rolled her eyes away whilst Eva just ignored them.

The 11th boat came with Total Drama's buxom blondie.

"Lindsay... welcome... back." Chris introduced her amidst his bout of wheezing.

"Thanks Caleb." Chris stood dumbfounded and correct her as she mispronounced his name once again if he wasn't wheezing, letting her walk past him instead. In the bleachers, she sat beside a recently recovered Tyler and they embraced in a kiss.

This elicited aws from the assembly with the exceptions of Eva and Heather, the latter gagging mockingly.

"Taylor, we get to be with everyone again." Tyler simply gave a smile even though his girlfriend forgot his name… again.

The 12th boat arrived. Having recovered from Owen's crushing bearhug, Chris prepared to introduce the new arrival. However...

"Bridgy-bear." Geoff called happily as he ran forward. Sure enough, Bridgette opened her arms to embrace him, their lips making a connection immediately.

"More aws anyone?" Everyone found themselves complying with Gwen's proposal, still excluding Eva and Heather. Chris however, was getting annoyed by this antic.

"Okay, move it you two. We don't have a lot of time, you know." The couple went to the bleachers… while making out. "I don't even know how you ever do that." Chris muttered as the 13th boat came forward. The moment it reached the dock, a blur of green and orange leapt out of the bow and tackled the Host to the ground.

"What the heck! IZZY, get off of me!" Chris screamed in shock and irritation. Izzy smiled down at him, but it was more of the smile from someone who should be confined in a mental asylum.

"El Tigre has arrived!" It was well known to the contestants that Izzy regularly adopts personas out of whim. Now it seems that she'd taken another in, inspired by a land-based apex predator [01]. To emphasise this, she did a tigerish roar that would seem authentic enough were it not for the feminine human voice.

"Wonderful, she adopted a new persona." Noah deadpanned, eye-rolling but amused nonetheless at his friend's antics

"I'm willing to bet fifty bucks that'll get her eliminated again." Leshawna joked regarding the trend that this strange girl caused her elimination several times. But she sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be her team that Izzy will be a part of.

What Izzy did next add to the peculiarity felt by her compatriots. The Crazy Girl leapt off of the Host and ran to the bleachers on all fours, her limbs perfectly synchronised as any quadrupled animal when running. Most didn't expect her to sit beside Eva, something which the iron woman wasn't bothered with.

"Eves." All of the sudden, a surprised Eva found Izzy's long arms wrapped around her body, long arms trying to crush her thick figure. This action was accompanied by a nickname no one has ever heard before. "It's good to see your finally competing again." Below, most watched the scene anxiously, thinking that Izzy just lit the powder keg.

"Thanks." To their surprise, Eva seemed to appreciate this gesture; her once flat lips curling into a small smile.

The next boat arrived and the passenger's mood was identical to that of Heather and Gwen in their first arrival. Most of the contestants frowned, displeased to see this mocha-skinned latina.

"Courtney." Chris had just recovered from Izzy – or El Tigre as she calls herself now – when he introduced the new arrival. He turned to see the stare given by everyone. "Not receiving a warm welcome I see." He said with a smug smile, trying to evoke a reaction from the contestant.

"I don't want to be back here Chris." Courtney hissed with a tone of venom, baring her black eyes in a piercing glare. Her attention shifted upon noticing that the person she despised the most had arrived already. "Especially with **her**."

"The feeling is mutual." Gwen hissed with equal intensity. She hadn't forgiven the CIT a bit for her deception in All-Stars by rekindling their friendship to conceal her plans to eliminate her. She will never trust or befriend Courtney again, the girl was too laser-focused at the prize alone.

Those beside the Goth moved away, anticipating a fight to happen but it was all for nothing. Courtney huffed as she walked forward to the bleachers and up the aisle on the left, sitting far from Gwen. Being her only remaining friend in this god-forsaken show, Bridgette changed her seats to sit beside Courtney. Geoff was fine with her decision, familiar with the value of friendships in his social life. The surfer placed a comforting hand on her shoulder with an equally comforting smile. The heartfelt gestures from a friend seemed to ease her mood when she smiled in return.

"Here comes... Trent everyone!" Chris struggled to keep his tone in check as the boat carrying the guitarist arrived. Gwen grinned at the sight of her ex-boyfriend exiting the boat, something that has not escaped Leshawna's notice.

Leshawna leaned to her ear and whispered. "Planning to rekindle with him, are you?"

"You guessed right." Gwen remarked. Her breakup with Duncan gave her the opportunity to restart her relationship with Trent – and it was one that she wouldn't slip past her hands.

"Chris." In spite of the relaxed body, Trent approached the host with a mild sense apprehension. "It feels great to be back. Still looking good I see." He tried easing the Host's nerves by feeding his narcissism, but it would appear to have no effect whatsoever. It made him feel on the receiving end, given the fact that the man before him is the father of his yet-to-be-introduced girlfriend, who does **not approve of the said relationship**.

"Yeah, I know. " Gwen and the contestants noted how the Host's tone changed from the usual amusement into that of stark coldness, emphasised by the crossed arms and dismissive face of Chris Mclean as he eyed Trent intensively. It took Trent less than a second to predict the cause.

"Seriously man, we already told you that the nine-thing is gone."

"I'm not taking any chances." Chris glared at him before getting close to Trent's ear to whisper a warning to the recently arrived guitarist. "Also, don't make any mention of _her_ until her arrival with the others, I don't want the cast knowing anything... yet. Just... go where the others."

Without a word escaping his mouth to argue or converse further, he joined the others.

"Geez, that was kinda cold for Chris. What was that about?" Harold asked his arriving bandmate regarding the matter.

"Sorry, but I can't say." Trent smiled. "But you'll find out soon, very soon."

Loud sirens drew everyone's attention to the approaching watercraft. It was a police boat, and at the bow are two officers flanking a young man in handcuffs scowling all the way. Chris made a smug grin while the others just looked in either indifference or surprise… or dismay in the case of Courtney and Gwen. Having been arrested in All-Stars on the charge of property damage, the contestants were rightfully surprised to see him return.

"Duncan." The notorious delinquent hopped off the boat along with the officers as they walked towards Chris. "A changed man, I see." The Host mocked.

It did nothing but make the contestant growl. "How about I change that smug face of yours McLean!" The self-proclaimed bad-boy hissed and was prepared to attack the host until the officers intervened.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, chump." Called one of the cops with a stern look on his face.

Duncan turned to sneer back. "Oh yeah! What's stopping me?!"

"Mr. McLean has the authority to warrant your arrest under any event of misconduct, given how he's the one who personally bailed you out." He explained. Duncan tensed and his face turned to fear before turning back to see the devilish face of Chris Mclean.

"You hear that Duncan, your fate. Rests. In. My. Hands." Chris exaggerated each word with a look of satisfaction, his widening grin proportional to the enlarging eyes of disbelief by the felon. "Anyway, officers please kindly remove his handcuffs."

Without a word, the other officer removed the Delinquent's handcuffs and departed with the boat

"So… enjoyed your time in prison Duncan?" Chris approached him with a mocking tone before noticing the dark circles around his eyes. "And did you have any good night's sleep?"

"I'd rather go back to juvie than return to that hell-hole." Duncan ignored the Host's second question as he walked – more like shambled – to the bleachers. Once he was close enough, everyone took notice of his eyes as well.

"Duncan, you look like you didn't get any sleep dude."

"Because I _didn't_ Geoff." Duncan went to his seat with a tired yawn. "Six months in prison was hell, folks are _way nastier_ than in juvie... Can't sleep much because I gotta keep a _close_ eye on everyone… especially my cellmate."

"You didn't drop the soap, did you?" Noah quipped, uncaring as some erupted in laughter over the implication of this joke, including Chris.

Duncan did nothing but frown as he walked forward. Once, he found the joke hilarious. But now having a first-hand experience of prison life, treating it as a laughing matter is no longer viable. He would've bothered to argue had his tiredness not weighed his body and mind down. For now, he'll let this impudence slid on his skin because he wasn't in the mood to talk back.

Gwen and Courtney tried their best to ignore his presence as best they could, but it was the ex-convict took decided to probe in.

"Hey Patsy." From Gwen, his gaze switched to his older flame. "Princess. Wanna make out together?" He teased. The repulsive proposition elicited the predicted disgusted expressions on their faces.

"Ugh gross! In your dreams, _Ogre_." Courtney huffed with a furrowed glare at her ex-boyfriend.

Despite sharing the same sentiment, Gwen chose to be gentler than her Hispanic counterpart. "I'll pass Duncan." She peeked over the side of Duncan to stare at Trent, who was too immersed in his conversation with his conversation with Harold to even return the favour. Her heart hopeful to start their relationship anew into a possibly more powerful bond.

The 17th boat came and the show's fan-turned-contestant hopped out, giddiness visible in her face.

"OMG! I'm in the new season of Total Drama EEEE!" The contestant was giddy and squealed with delight. Given that months had passed since her latest participation, her short ponytail had grown back into a long braid.

"Sierra... Welcome back!" Chris forced a smile, even as memories of the Jumbo Jet's destruction resurfaced. "Too bad your knight in shining armour by the name of Cody isn't here yet."

At that moment, her mood changed. She stopped still as her face fell, the happiness vanquished in an instant. The contestants watched in confusion as Sierra fell to her knees and wailed towards the orange sky.

"NOOO! Why is fate so cruel? This is the first time I'm going to see and hear my Codykins again, he's been ghosting ever since!"

Upon hearing what Sierra just said about their friend, Trent and Harold froze. "Wait, Sierra you're being ghosted too?" Trent asked in a grave tone, with Harold sharing the same reaction after hearing what Sierra just said.

"Yes." Came the dejected response before realisation sank in. "You guys as well?"

Both Drama Brothers exchanged alarmed glances before nodding back to Sierra. Gwen decided to interject. "What is this about Cody?"

Her inquiry lingered for a few moments. Sierra was too depressed to answer the question and Trent was too worried to do the same, so Harold took it upon himself.

"We hadn't heard anything from Cody from the past months. The last time we're with him was a day before All-Stars premiered, when we decided to pay Sierra a visit before we go on our planned road-trip."

It was common knowledge for most of the first-gen that the Drama Brothers had scheduled a vacation in the United States of America, as a relief and potentially even perform one of their songs in front of their fans. After all, even their fame reached the youth of the Land of the Free.

"Sierra took the three of us on a tour around the hotel for about an hour while Cody excused himself to go back in the room, saying that he forgot something. We waited for some time before we just continued without him. When we got back, we discovered that he was already gone without even informing us and just left a note to say why."

Silence. One none of them dare break for a moment in anticipation of Harold's resumption.

"What did the note say?" Gwen pressed further. Seeing the genuine concern on their faces, she felt inclined to worry as well.

With a mind as sharp as a peerless knife, Harold recited the contents of the note.

"'I'm sorry I had to leave guys, but there's a problem I need to deal with. Go on without me to the States… and good luck Sierra.'. That's what he wrote."

Gwen blinked, underwhelmed and raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" She could probably just rule this out as an overreaction from Sierra and the two Drama Brothers. "Honestly, that doesn't sound like a serious issue. You know, maybe he just lost his phone or something-"

"It seems that way, but Cody isn't the type to forget, especially if it involves friends. He was also often online in social media networks and all of us bandmates talk regularly. But he hasn't been there ever since!"

"Then you could've just visited him to see what's wrong-."

"We did! Me, Justin, Harold and Sierra. But we found a different family living in their house. We asked his neighbours, they said that the Andersons moved out some time ago. Complicating matters is that even they didn't know why." Trent disclosed as the despairing Sierra limped towards the group. Chris mused that perhaps he's the only person other than Chef to know the reason behind Cody's ghosting, recalling the Cooker's words last month.

" _I was driving over a meadow when I found him; lying on the ground… barely conscious and severely beaten. He was battered to the point of near death; having suffered bruises and broken bones all over his body, even cuts and burns. I took him as fast as I could to the nearest hospital I can find before informing his parents, who were equally horrified as I am. A few days after the doctors let him out, he went to my house, asking me to train him so he wouldn't be weak anymore. I tried asking who did 'that' to him but he just kept his mouth shut, so I just gave up and trained him."_

 _From what I know Chef found Cody about a day after Pahkitew ended and trained him for several months. Maybe that's why he's off the grid for a long time, knowing that Chef forbids anything that would distract his trainees, well…mostly gadgets._ He brushed it aside with that conclusion. After all, he has a show to host.

Bridgette immediately consoled the despairing fangirl. "Don't worry Sierra you'll see him again soon, I'm sure he's fine." She looked at Chris. "He's here... right?"

Chris groaned. "Yes, I did say that everyone's competing in this season."

The next boat arrived at the dock. Whatever attention the subject of Cody gathered has dissipated in place of the shock that seized the cast, with the exception of the Host who grinned at their surprise.

"SERIOUSLY!" Eva screamed in anger at the Host, whose face was indifferent this time. "You brought homeschool BACK!" She fumed, pointing her finger at the show's sexist camper as he returned an indifferent stare at his fellow generation.

"What's more important is how he is even back to normal." Noah deadpanned. It was true; Ezekiel's appearance reverted to normality, devoid of the sickly green skin and feral behavior of a hideous goblin. The prairie boy had somehow retained sanity during the course of six months.

"Intensive physical and mental therapy." Ezekiel explained indifferently. "Paid by the show, eh." He continued, directing a smug smirk at the host. Everyone looked at Chris, who was frowning at Ezekiel's words.

"His family threatened to sue." He explained, displeasure evident in his tone.

Courtney snickered, her lips curving upwards into a genuine smirk. "And I thought I was the only one here who does that _._ "

"But seriously brah, your family let you in. After all you've been through?" Geoff asked the approaching contestant, perplexed at the situation.

"Well, Chris and his contracts, there's nothing we can really do about it eh… and I really need to get out the house." Ezekiel sat beside Owen, one of the very few people that he's sure would tolerate his presence.

"Is this all of us?" Gwen inquired noticing the absence of some batchmates. "I mean, all contestants of Total Drama would compete, right? So where's the rest of us… originals."

"And where's my Codykins?!" Sierra bellowed from her seat, but was ultimately ignored by the Host.

"The rest of the first-gen would make a late arrival, some of them for a _special_ reason."

That emphasis raised more than one eyebrow among the cast.

"A special reason?" Leshawna repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Better wait and see, I hate spoilers, you know?" Chris replied before hearing the oncoming sound of a boat. "Now let's welcome the second generation."

The first-gen watched as a military cadet disembark the watercraft. Having watched the seasons they didn't participate in, they know their behaviour well.

"Private Brick Macarthur, reporting for duty." The contestant said, standing ramrod straight, saluting the Host.

"At ease, soldier." Noah muttered with clear amusement over the behaviour of this second-gen.

"Brick, Glad to see you." Chris greeted, spanning his arms as if about to hug someone before subsequently loosening them. "Now…" He turned towards the large bleacher, pointing his finger at it for further emphasis. "I advise you to choose a spot for your generation, since mixing all generations in one group would be problematic."

Brick saluted once more before proceeding, sitting on a spot right-side of the first-gen.

"Hi." Being the lovable oaf he is, Owen extended an open hand at the new arrival with the clear offer of friendship. "I'm Owen."

Seeing the politeness, the cadet took the hand without a second thought. "Nice to meet you, campmate."

The 20th boat reached the dock and drops the next second generation contestant of Total Drama.

"Jo." Chris introduced the scowling jockette. "Just too bad that Brick got here first before you."

"That doesn't matter." Jo proclaimed as she began walking. "GI Joke here doesn't even have the same chance in the following challenges."

"On the contrary ma'am, I've been preparing for this ever since my graduation at fashion school and subsequent return to the boot camp, there's nothing you could outdo me this time" Brick proclaimed with prideful resolution as his rival stood beside him.

"Wait, you honestly graduated in that fashion school of yours?" Heather asked with surprise, remembering the Cadet's proclamation at the end of TDROTI.

The Cadet only nodded while the Jockette scoffed and rolled her eyes dismissively. "Pfft whatever." It was unnecessary to take his words for granted, it wouldn't matter way as it would just be put to waste by his magnetism to pain.

"Hey." Jo looked to the side where the first-gen had gathered and saw a muscular woman beside her, staring back with a neutral expression. This instantly caught the attention of everyone present. "Name's Eva, I've watched ROTI and AS and been focused on you; the dominance over the group and the drive to win..." The Iron Woman threw an impressed look at her. "Gotta say I like your style."

The Jockette's features relaxed as she made a friendly smile over the compliment from a fellow woman of her calibre. "Appreciated, it's Jo by the way."

This nascent interaction sent unseen waves of worry amongst Brick and the first-gen, as such is between two of the strongest and most competitive individuals they ever know. If such thing blossomed into a friendship then into an alliance, they'd be dealing with a force to be reckoned with; the ruthless stratagem and domination of Jo combined with the physical power and intimidation of Eva would be enough to steamroll any apprehension is concentrated towards Brick, Heather, Bridgette and Ezekiel; given the negativity of their relationship with one of them. The twenty-first boat arrived and the show's resident fame monger made herself known.

"Welcome back Dakota!" Chris forced another jubilant expression. Likewise with Ezekiel, Dakota had reverted back to the state of physical normalcy. The only remaining residues of her mutation were the few green streaks on her regrown long blonde hair.

"Hold on a minute! Didn't she became a 50-foot tall Godzilla back in Revenge, how is she back to being... you know, normalish." Gwen inquired at the silent behest of everyone. Seeing the Fame Monger again after these months, she recalled her time back in ROTI – in the challenge where Chris has yet again subjected her to her worst fear along with that Sam guy. Despite having been tossed aside like some garbage, she held no ill-feelings towards the rich girl since she was frantic to save her boyfriend.

"Three things: Daddy, a lot of scientists and most importantly, the Producers." The now-normal scioness elaborated as she directed a smug look at Chris, much to the host's obvious displeasure once again. Much like the parents of Ezekiel, Mr. Milton had sued them for the disaster that had befallen his daughter and even demanded to have him arrested, but such thing was averted through the producers agreeing to sponsor her treatment.

"Ugh... please don't remind me." The Narcissism Incarnate lamented as the new arrival walked past him. Though the producers paid for the treatment of Dakota and Ezekiel, the money was unofficially drawn from his pocket as the suing individuals pointed out that he's solely responsible for these unfortunate developments.

"It feels good to be back to normal, right eh?" Of all the people that could start talking to her, the person had to be Ezekiel. This fact didn't bother her a bit since it's obvious that he's just attempting to relate with a fellow victim.

Dakota nodded. "Yeah, but it's good to see that I'm not the only one." In spite of his bad reputation amongst girls for his previous sexism, she felt sympathy for the prairie boy since both of them had experienced the same fate of being transformed into a freak of nature against their consent.

Geoff patted Ezekiel's shoulder before muttering in his ear. "Congratulations brah, looks like you made your first female friend without offending her."

"It's an improvement, eh." Ezekiel replied as the 22nd boat docked.

"We have here is Anne Maria." Chris introduced the camper who is spraying herself with her inseparable tan spray.

"The diva has arrived, betta get outta the way 'cause that million dollars is all mi-YOU!" It took the quick reactions of Brick and Geoff to stop the now livid woman from laying her vicious hands on the visibly terrified Ezekiel, holding her at bay with their strength as her hands flailed around in defiance. "I'll make you pay for trickin' me with that fake a **/bleep/** diamond that costs me the competition in ROTI!"

"Ma'am calm down." Brick advised in the struggle to contain the raging woman. "He wasn't normal back then."

"He's right, Zeke doesn't even know what he's doing back then. But I'm sure he won't do It again." Geoff joined in the same struggle as the cadet. It took a few more seconds of worthless scuffle from Anne Maria until she finally conceded.

"FINE!" She wordlessly walked to her spot without any further issue, there was no point of continuing with her attempt as it would be counterproductive and wasteful of strength for the first challenge. As soon as she went to her spot, she threw a throat-slash gesture at Ezekiel.

The next boat arrived and disembarking is an avid lover of videogames, somewhat ironic given the lack of any gaming console on his hands this time.

"Sam, nice to see you without any gaming console along for the first time." Chris remarked.

"Well, not really Chris." He tapped a noticeable lump in his pocket. "It's just here; I just thought that it would be good to minimize my time with video games and experience the outdoors more often." Sam explained the justification for the oddity. "Are you gonna... You know, take it away?"

"Nope."

This made him puzzled. "What? Why?"

"A reason that would be revealed later, but for now join the others" With that being said, Sam just walked towards his castmates who gave him a variety of greetings. Brick saluted his fellow comrade, Jo gave a cold glare at yet another contender for the prize money, Anne Maria waved her hand with a warm smile and finally, Dakota hugged him as soon as he came to her reach.

The 24th boat came to view. "Right now, here's…" Chris began with a bright expression, hoping that the next one would be entertaining. However, it ended with him being underwhelmed and dismayed as the passenger hopped off before the boat sped away as fast as it could. "Staci."

"Hi guys!" Staci – her hair having grown back – waved at the assembled contestants who returned her gesture with a deadpan expression. "You know, my-" Before she can blabber once again, Chris shut her mouth with his hand for the sake of his ears along with everyone else.

"Can it, Chatterbox. No one wants to hear it." Chris informed her of the rude truth. Staci simply shrugged her shoulders uncaringly and walked towards her fellow generation where she continued her rambling. "As I was saying, my great-great-great-great-great-great-." Again much like before, she was never able to continue as a fist flew to her face, knocking her unconscious.

This development prompted everyone to look at the perpetrator with either indifferent or angry expressions. "Consider it a favour." Jo crossed her arms, unmoved by the variety of stares at her.

"Thank you Jo." Chris said with satisfaction before turning his attention to the approaching boat. Making an appearance was an overweight genius that has never said a single word in his performance.

"It's Beverly!" Chris introduced the new arrival, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Call me B!" Gasps of arose from the surprised contestants and Chris.

"Did he… just talk?" Sam pointed in disbelief.

"That's impossible, his mouth didn't even move a bit." Heather remarked. Amused, the Silent Genius pulled down the sleeve of his right hand, showing something akin to a watch; though in the place of the clock is a circular speaker.

"Since no one can trust me anymore, I invented this thing to say anything I wanted to say." The intelligent giant's voice emanated from the speaker. "Advanced technology as you may say." _**[1]**_

"Cool." Harold muttered in fascination as Geoff thumbs-up the genius instead.

As soon as B reached his group, the 26th boat arrived and disembarking is a petite bubble boy that compensated his physical frailty with sheer intellect. The Host was about to introduce the newcomer when a blur of purple and teal barreled her way to the newcomer and put him in a bearhug.

"CAMCODY!" Sierra screamed in delusional delight as she tightened her already tight hug around the unfortunate fellow. It would appear that her delusion of him being Cody has not faded for even a bit. "I missed you so much, I was scared that something happened to you but now you're finally here with me!"

"HELLLP!" Cameron begged, reaching a hand to the assembled contestants. It was not fear that can be seen in his eyes. But rather desperation, begging to be set free from the totalitarian grasp of this obsessive amazon. Before anyone moved however...

"Chef!" Chris summoned his co-host, appearing in a dramatic entrance by hopping from the water below the dock clad in a diving suit. He forcibly separated both contestants. Sierra tried in vain to squirm free out of the cooker's grasp even though she wasn't strong enough. Seeing the opportunity, Cameron ran as fast as his feeble body could allow to the others and hid behind the large body of B where he quivered in fear.

"There, there, Short-Stuff. Crazy Gal isn't gonna hurt ya no more." Anne Maria attempted to sooth Cameron as she watched Chef sat with the first gen, keeping the rabid fangirl in his tight grasp in his drenched diving suit.

"Chef, please remain there until she calms down." Chris dictated to his friend.

"Also, what were you doing in the water anyway?" Noah inquired about the cooker's appearance and point of entry.

"I was collectin' 'em beautiful corals down there." Chef removed his goggles to get a clearer look at the contestant. "New hobby of mine."

"Wait, there are corals growing underwater?" Gwen asked, she and the fellow girls intrigued.

Chef nodded in confirmation. "There's many of 'em on the seafloor 'round the island, different colours, shapes, sizes." to prove his point, he pulled out one from his pocket for all to see. The girls, having a natural inclination for grandeur, were mesmerized by the glistening purplish surface of the object.

"Oooh, I want one." Lindsay muttered, tantalized by the object. Even Heather herself seems to share this opinion. Sierra seemed to have returned to her pacified state at the mere glance at the object as both Dakota and Anne Maria appear to drool at the sight of it.

"Well, pretty much all of us do." Gwen informed the Dumb Princess as she observed how everyone gravitated their attention to the coral. Noah would've voiced his skepticism at times such as this, given the show's liberal employment of props. But at one glance, the coral itself appeared to be authentic.

"If you could return your attention back here please." Chris called their attention back to the dock as the 27th boat arrived and disembarking is a white-haired black jock. Cameron whimpered as his already unfortunate situation worsened, he knew that all contestants would be participating this season, but he had been hoping beyond all hope that _this_ contestant would never appear.

"Lightning's back to win this competition, so better get sha-out of my way!" Came a boastful declaration from the overachiever. Everyone just rolled their eyes at this display of boastfulness.

"No one sha-cares, so you better sha-tup!" The Overachiever frowned in response to Jo's insult. "Those are words coming from the mouth of someone who can't even guess my gender, not to mention losing to a wimp in ROTI." This elicited laughter from her fellow second generation, sans the nervous Cameron.

"Ohhh shots fired." Chris said in an attempt to further goad the jock to do something. "Are gonna let that slip away?"

What he received was not what he expected.

"Normally I would pounce on her, but I have enough sha-smarts to know mah priorities… so yeah. Macho-girl is not worth it until the competition starts, it would be a waste of my precious strength." With that, he kissed his biceps before jogging forward to them and standing far away from Jo then giving a death glare to Cameron, it's plainly obvious that his damaged ego still hasn't recovered from the loss that costs his father his prized rings. "I'm making this season a hell for you!"

The bubble boy gulped in further terror while 28th boat came forward and two individuals of opposite genders disembarked instead of the expected one, holding each other's hand along the way.

"Zoey and Mike, the winner and the runner-up of All-Stars respectively." Chris introduced the couple.

"Hi guys!" Zoey greeted the assembled cast, particularly those among the first generation that didn't participate in All-Stars. She was waving her hand a bright smile that radiated jubilance and optimism for this season of Total Drama to associate herself with more of the pioneers. Her positivity was returned with a series of welcoming waves and smiles from most.

On the other hand, Mike felt uneasy at all the attention directed at him by the contestants that ignored Zoey; falling into the category of cold glares, in the case of Courtney, Jo and Heather; or suspicious stares from Noah, Duncan, Eva and Leshawna. One look at these people and it doesn't take a genius to guess that they watched the All-Stars season and be aware of the Mal Situation that occurred.

Thinking back, it almost seemed like it happened just the day before, back at Tower of Malevolence during the final challenge of AS. At the last second of pushing the button that would reset his mind and absorb his personalities into himself, Mike quickly changed his mind and began destroying the place, choosing to draw out Mal instead of losing his personalities. Initially, they were opposed to this, trying to stop and convince him once again since it seemed that only he could push the button and make it function. His plan worked as Mal materialized into the room, vaporizing his own tower to prevent his quick defeat and then battling them all five. It was after some gruelling long minutes that they had overwhelmed Mal to the point that he faded away from existence. **[2]**

"Um… hey everyone. How's it been?" Mike nervously asked in an attempt to change the atmosphere into something more pleasant for him. But sadly, they weren't willing to buy it as the Mal Situation is still fresh in their minds. "There's no need to worry about Mal, you did watch us vanquish him for good."

"We know that man, but it's better if we keep an eye on you in case he comes back." Duncan implored cautiously as some of the suspicious nodded their heads.

"Not to mention he can perfectly mimic you." Noah added, sharing the sentiment of keeping an eye on the MPD diagnosed man. This guy has a personality that actually has no hesitation in killing people or causing suffering.

A desperate Mike turned his attention to his confidant, who shared the same suspicious look found in the others. "Even you Cam?" He watched Cameron lower his head in reluctant admission.

"Sorry Mike, but after All-Stars I'm not sure of who to trust anymore."

"Oh boo-hoo, too bad for you pentafreak you're on your own now." Heather snarled at the MPD contestant, remembering how Mal nearly killed her back at the final challenge in All-Stars.

"Hey! Layoff white girl!" Leshawna quickly came into his defence, both individuals may have the same body but this lad is free from the sins committed by his other.

"I nearly died because of him!" Heather protested as she brought her face up to her shorter yet larger enemy, eyes seething with burning anger.

"Woah, Woah, calm down both of you." Trent moved in between them in an attempt to defuse the rising atmosphere of animosity. It was a fruitless endeavour as the verbal debacle continues between Heather and Leshawna, though it didn't discourage him from trying despite his voice being drowned in the heated and disharmonious cacophony of their voices.

"Yo Mike." He found his attention drawn towards Anne Maria. "Rip yo shirt off and turn into Vito."

"No way in hell is that going to happen Anne Maria." Zoey said in objection as she glared at the tan-heavy woman, her mood bordering between anger and annoyance. "Especially with me around."

"Don't care princess goody-goody" Anne Maria protested in a bossy manner."I wanna see my baby. We have a lotta things to do; like kissing, cuddling aaaand f **/bleep/** g"

Gasps of shock arose from everyone over Anne Maria's shameless declaration, even the scuffle between Heather and Leshawna came to a halt as they joined the others in staring wide-eyed at the Jersey Shore Reject. Mike went red as a tomato while Anne Maria just licked her lips seductively.

"D-Did she just say-" Jo tried to confirm what they all just heard when a furious Zoey cut her off.

"Why you-!" Mike was quick to hold his livid girlfriend from rushing forward and beating the crap out of their fellow second-gen, who was just about to do so.

"What! You gonna go commando b **/bleep/** h on me red, bring it on I ain't afraid a bit!" To prove her point, Anne Maria pulled a bottle of hair and tan spray from the large poof that is her hair and held herself in a battle-ready pose. Once again this made both Brick and Geoff stiffen in preparation in the case she either runs towards the restrained Zoey.

"Ok, enough!" Chris, mildly exasperated and mostly annoyed, took it upon himself to diffuse the situation. Sure he likes the current situation for the drama it entails but the show hasn't even started yet. "Both of you knock it off. We haven't even started yet and now you're ready to go at it. Keep it to yourselves for now else I'll eliminate the one who makes the first shot."

Seconds pass before the two women calmed down and diminished the energy that built-up in their body in preparation to fight. Hate still lingered in the air though, as their glaring stare down never ceased even as Mike wisely guided his girlfriend to a spot far from Anne Maria.

But all that negative energy is redirected as the 29th boat arrived and stepping out is someone that caught the glares of the entire second generation, along with Courtney. The rest just stared with indifference yet evident dislike such as Noah, Heather and Leshawna.

"Now we have Rat Boy Scott." Chris mocked him, remembering how Courtney drew him in a rat-like effigy in her written plans back in All-Stars. This gibe earned him an immediate growl from the dirt farmer.

"Don't call me rat boy." Scott shouted in annoyance. "Just because my ex drew me like that it doesn't mean I'm one."

"So how about Fang's favourite chew toy?" A round of chuckles came from the two generations over Jo's suggestion.

"Like hell." The Schemer fumed over the further ridicule of his character, casting a scowl towards the entire grouping. "Just so you know, I conquered my fear of sharks. Now if there should be anyone cowering, it would be Fang and his kind. I'll be the one eating them this time." He proclaimed as he crossed his arms.

Of course, everyone didn't buy it. Clearly, this proclamation of his is nothing but a boastful façade.

"Thanks for remindin' me of somethin' maggot." Chef told him before putting his fingers to his mouth in a whistle. Apparently, the Cooker made a deal with someone in exchange for helping him with his coral-harvesting.

Moments later, something emerged from the same spot of the water where Chef came, and the dirt farmer screamed in terror upon recognising who it is.

"FANG!"

Indeed it is. Standing beside him is the humanoid shark himself. Whatever courage he boasted about had immediately evaporated as he let out a high-pitched scream before running towards the second generation and hid behind everyone, who was laughing with amusement.

"You were saying, man?" Duncan asked rhetorically.

"Now that Scott's here." Chris wiped away the tear from his eye as he asserted his normal composure back. "We'll all just have to wait for our last second generation contestant."

"I'm already here Chris."

The Host found himself startled by a familiar voice before discovering that the final contestant is standing behind him. "Dawn! How did you get here?"

"Creepy girl has supernatural powers remember." Eva reminded the Host as she and her fellow contestants found themselves in varying degrees of surprise over her sudden appearance behind the host. All of them were well-aware of the supernatural nature surrounding Dawn and unanimously agreed that it's true, even smarter individuals such as Noah and Heather had conceded to that conclusion. As ludicrous as it seemed, no one can deny the mystical nature surrounding the Moonchild given her logically unexplainable actions back in ROTI such as _reading_ auras, arriving ashore completely dry and even talking to and understanding animals in a manner of human communication. But of course, this doesn't mean she's not a threat to their progression in the competition. Dawn could easily discern your best-laid well-kept plans, memories that could be exploited and predict your future as easy as reading an open book.

"Oh, I-I took a sh-shortcut." The girl looked shaken. But still, she tried her best to present a smile towards everyone, with minimal success that is. "In actuality, I was already here before everyone else did. I spent my time exploring this wonderful island as I await the arrival of everyone."

Inevitably, Chris noticed the oddity in Dawn just like the campers. "Yeah, but what's with the face? You look like you been scared or something."

"Oh this is nothing, I recently woke from my nap after a bad dream." Dawn became defensive, even putting up her hands. "A very, very bad dream."

"Ok, move along." Regardless of the veracity, Chris seemed unconcerned and instead directed a thumb at the assembly behind him as Fang dived back to the water. "I still got some contestants to introduce."

With that, Dawn wordlessly walked towards her group and sat between her friends B and Mike.

"With the second-gen rolled in, let's welcome the third generation." Chris continued as the 30th boat came docked and instead of coming out like the usual contestants, the passengers performed an acrobatic flip that triggered whistles of impression from everyone and landed with grace beside the host.

"Now that's some grand entrance you made there Sky." Chris complimented as the said contestant rose to her feet before turning to the assembly of contestants behind them. "Just like I've said with the second-gen, feel free to choose a place for your team to gather."

"Sure." Sky acknowledged the privilege and moved forward.

"That was some move you did back there, you should totally hang out with me." Not even a day has passed and Lightning is already quick to flirt with the aspiring Olympian, flexing his biceps to further impress her. The reaction of most was split, some looking in bewilderment and some doing eyerolls.

"I'm flattered but I'm not planning to bother with relationships right now, my focus will be the competition alone." The Lady of Cree Lineage said as she chose the spot left-side of the first-gen, who are now evidently flanked by the two successive generations of Total Drama. As the 31st boat docked, everyone is startled by what can be guessed as the horn of a cargo ship. It wasn't long before the source stepped into the dock.

"Beardo." Chris introduced as the said camper approached him. "Our great beatboxer. Just hope that you get that thing under control to last longer in this contest, unless you want to be an Ezekiel 2.0." From the bleachers, the aforementioned contestant groaned over that remark. Beardo's reply took the form of a cha-ching sound before walking past the Host.

"Beatboxing is sick brah, you should totally come to my parties." Geoff complemented with Harold giving a double thumbs up at the beatboxer.

"Sure thing man, I'd love that." Against their expectations, Beardo parted his mouth to speak words instead of sounds. After that, he went beside Sky.

"You speak now maggot?" Came a rhetorical question from Chef Hatchet, remembering how his noise-production signed his status as the first PI contestant to be eliminated.

"Yeah, I'm taking a 'speak and help more, beatbox less' sort of approach for this season, so I wouldn't get the boot early."

The next boat came and stepping out are two contestants.

"Jasmine and Shawn, welcome back." Chris greeted. "So how has our lovely couple been?"

"Oh, all is well between us." Shawn answered. "Jasmine just returned from her vacation in Australia about a week ago. Other than that we're looking forward to the competition."

"So." On the other hand, Jasmine surveyed the island in the background with interest. "This is the new island you were talking about; I hope it ain't nasty like Pahkitew."

"Why you don't have to worry Jasmine." Dawn called the Australian Amazon, her anxious look seemed to have disappeared momentarily. "I can assure you this island is living and not artificial like its predecessor. While the animals are still machines, most of the environment is natural from what I garnered from _her._ "

"Wait!" The contestants' eyes' were quick to turn to Chris, surprise was written all over his face. "You talked… to _her?_ " It was more of a statement than a question.

"Why yes, she's quite very informative to me." The Aura Whisperer answered in delight with a smile, remembering her pleasant conversation with the person she's referring to. But of course, this did nothing but inflame the curiosity of everyone surrounding her and it wasn't long before someone finally found the courage to ask.

" _Her_?" Gwen sought to satiate everyone's curiosity by making the inquiry herself. "Who's _her_? Who are you two talking about?"

Unfortunately, it would seem that they must delay their gratification for the moment Dawn began to open her mouth, Chris was quick to intervene.

"SOMEONE!" Chris shouted at the top of his lungs, immediately bringing everyone's attention back to him as he fixed a hard frown at Dawn. "We're going to meet later on, don't even think of ruining the surprises else you'll quickly get the boot."

Many remained silent, though there are those that complain due to unsatisfied whims; justified due to the implication of many great things this season but Chris still hasn't disclosed even one.

"Come on Chris! That ain't even fair." Leshawna pouted along with others.

Even though she hasn't read any auras yet, Dawn could understand the justifications for his threat; these surprises of his are big on the scope, things that would deliver a new experience in not only her participation in Total Drama, but everyone's as well.

But now that she'd thought of it…

Dawn felt the temptation in her mind, begging her to peer into the unperceivable aura of Chris Mclean. But ultimately, she conceded to entertain the host's wishes.

The 33rd boat arrived and coming out is someone that garnered not only the hate of the assembled third-gen, but also from almost everyone.

"Howdy y'all! The prettiest, cutest and most beautiful lady is now here. Best to quit now and save yourselves of the trouble, 'cause this pageant queen's gonna win this show. YEEHAH!"

"For someone who's the complete opposite of everything she just said, that's the richest thing I've heard from you, Sugar." Jasmine snarled, backed by the nods of some contestants. "Furthermore, your talent performance is absolute garbage."

"Giant Girl's right, you've got some serious issues." Heather joined in on the insult. Honestly, she's just disgusted with Sugar's attitude and treatment to Ella as everyone else, sure it may be comparable to her and Lindsay but at least she treats the latter with some respect.

"For once we agree on something." Gwen agreed with her arch-rival. This is not some shocking development since all of them watched PI as well and Sugar was quick to earn their collective hate.

"Watch it Gothy! I've got the stuff to win this here pageant and you know it! And I'll make anyone who says otherwise pay for it!" Sugar smacked her hands together as she began to walk forward.

"Or what? You're going to sing us a little carptry number?" Jo mocked the approaching self-proclaimed Pageant Queen, drawing a number of chuckles.

Being his snarky self, Noah joined in on the fun. "Don't give her any ideas; I forgot my ibuprofen back home." Noah regretted making the sarcastic insult moments later as Sugar curled her hand into a fist and sprinted forward akin to an incited bull, raising her hand to strike him square in the head. Trent resolutely placing himself between them and Chris stepping in were all that prevented it from happening.

"Settle down people. We wouldn't want you hurting each other…Yet!" Chris claimed with his usual devilish smirk. "With that said, let's move on."

Even with the diffused situation, Sugar continued her grumbling. "Stupid pieces of s **/bleep/** t where… where do they get off making fun of me like that!" Behind her, Leshawna and Anne Maria had the similar idea of flipping her off.

"Well to be fair Sugar you haven't exactly been the kindest person in the game. Remember how poorly you treated Ella months ago?" Dawn pointed out in a disdainful expression as opposed to her usual innocence.

"Oh great another one!" Sugar slapped her forehead with ever-rising irritation before angrily facing Dawn with a scowl. "Listen you fairy princess! I'm the one who's gonna win this pageant and no goody two shoes are getting in my way this time."

"You do realize this isn't a pageant, right? Half the people here are dudes and I'm hardly the type of girl to be into that thing." Gwen rolled her eyes dismissively. "And to be honest, you're more of being the repulsive, meanest and ugliest b **/bleep/** h we've ever met."

The resounding laughter from everyone riled Sugar into getting up into Gwen's face, who stood her ground much like her ex-boyfriend did. "I'll make you eat those words Gothy!" The Pageant Queen then proceeded to walk away in a huff.

"We'd like to see you try piggy!" Eva called from above as the new arrival did her best to ignore them.

Making sure the mean-spirited girl was out of earshot, Dawn whispered into Gwen's ear. "What a nasty f **/bleep/** g coloured aura!"

Gwen was surprised. "I never thought you're the person to curse Dawn."

"Normally, I wouldn't. But for her…" Dawn's face contorted into hate as she turned to Sugar's direction, who stood further from her fellow castmates in TDPI with an infuriated expression. "I'd make an exception."

There was chuckling in the background. "Good one Gwen, you've hit her where it hurts."

Gwen blinked. Is she dreaming? Because Heather just complimented her for something.

The debacle had ended only a few seconds ago, but it would seem that fate is not done with inciting the Pageant Queen.

"Ohhhh, I've reached the newest land of promised lands..."

As the new boat approaches the dock from the shallow water it sails, they could hear the faintest voice imposed by the distance and the limitations of the human throat.

"To this season I start anew..."

"Is someone... singing." Gwen asked rhetorically as they watched the arriving boat. A couple of sea creatures - including Fang - arose from the water as their aerial equivalents flew above from the lush forests, circling around the watercraft and chirping lively. Their attention locked to the oncoming boat where the pleasing song originates. _**[3]**_

"With every boy and girl that are not so few..."

"Yes." Chris looked displeased as memories of one PI contestant surfaced in his mind. "You can guess who it is."

"Who is it?" It was difficult to determine whether Sugar was feigning ignorance over the subject, considering her relationship with this person.

"Now here I stand…"

The boat finally reached the dock and a passenger appeared in ballet hop, her arms and face up high to the orange sky. Her eyes closed and lips stretched to an innocent smile.

With her appearance is the sharp intake of air to Sugar's mouth. Shock and disbelief were well written on her face. "No. It can't be!" It took less than a moment for her expression to turn into a murderous glare, so full of unreasonable hate and boiling fury that would melt the willpower of weak-willed men such as a fellow contestant named Dave. Hands and teeth clenched as well, in synchrony with her emotion.

"On beloved Eden IIIIIIIsland!"

Ella gave a bow at the end of her performance. The song's conclusion gave rise to applause from almost all assembled contestants, the symphony of claps ringing all over the area in grateful disharmony. Even personalities situated on the mean spectrum - namely Jo and Heather - did so out of impression. Sugar however...

"Ella, what do you think you're doing!?" A livid Sugar stood from her seat.

"Why singing." As always, Ella remained oblivious of Sugar's true nature. "I must express my joy for being able to compete once again." Sugar roared once more and ran towards her, knocking out Shawn off her path and only to be tackled down and restrained by - shockingly - both Ezekiel and Sam.

"Don't even... try." Sam struggled as the so-called prettiest, cutest and most beautiful lady tried to get away from their grip.

"It's a good thing you and I had the same thought... eh." Ezekiel complimented as Jasmine rushed past them and escorted the songbird to safety while Sky helps the zombie nut. The 35th boat arrived and coming out is someone that quickly changed the mood of Sugar.

"It's the wizard, he's back!" With a surge of newfound strength, she pushed both away and ran towards Leonard to hug him.

"Leonard." Chris introduced as he approached the two. "I wonder what magical nonsense you have in store for this season."

"Please Sir Mclean, my magic is a hundred percent authentic. I even bought a new spellbook. Allow me to demonstrate." Leonard pulled a small book from an unseen pocket and flipped to a few pages. "As my number one fan, I gave you the privilege to be invisible" Sugar stepped back as Leonard pulls his stick to perform his thing. "Invisibus Totalicus."

"Eat that non-believers, you can't possibly see me now."

"Yeah, we can't see you... If we're blind that is." Once again, everyone laughed at another one of Noah's well-done quips. Needless to say, this particular person along with that goth girl and pixie princess is starting to get on Sugar's nerves.

As Leonard begin to ponder why his magic trick yielded nothing yet again, Chris immediately shooed him and his volunteer away as the 36th boat came to view. "OK, OK move along. The next one is here." He honestly hopes that this one would be entertaining than the ones that arrived so far.

His high hopes were crushed when the passenger stepped out; annoyance immediately filled the gap as he groaned.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen of the world to the newest season of Total Dra-!"

"Shut it Topher, this is my show so don't even bother trying to steal the spotlight." Chris throws an annoyed frown at the contestant that attempted to upstage him. Originally, he planned to throw a smug comment until he began acting like he hosts this show once again. He'd protested with the producers on bringing this particular contestant back, yet all of it fell on deaf ears since it's been guaranteed that ALL Total Drama contestants shall compete. "Don't think I forgot or forgive what you tried in PI, I'm keeping a close eye on you."

Topher scoffed, gone was the façade of being an admirer of the host, having shed that skin to reveal his ambitious persona. "It doesn't matter. I'll eventually replace you as the host of Total Drama, in one way or... another."

"One Chris is already bad, another one is even worse." Gwen muttered in distaste. Jasmine was quick to agree with her in spite of the generational gap. It was the point of this season anyway – to bridge all that ever competed in this show for the biggest season yet.

"You got that right. Some of our challenges got harder because of him."

The 37th boat docked and coming out is another PI contestant, his burly body making him identical to Disney's Wreck-it-Ralph. "Rodney, welcome!"

Leshawna threw a gaze at the third-gen, mainly directed to the female members. "Isn't this the guy who gets lovestruck with most of y'all in the season?"

"Yeah." Jasmine muttered indifferently, as Rodney began to take notice of the assembled girls while walking. "To be honest, someone should help him understand a few... things outside country life."

"Wooow, a lot of pretty babes." Rodney mutters to himself, unknowingly drawing a variety of looks ranging from amusement or disgust.

"Womanizing weirdo." Heather sneered at the oblivious hopeless romantic, who is apparently too immersed being lovestruck that he didn't even hear her.

The next boat came forward and coming out are two contestants in the middle of a physical quarrel, exemplified by the fact that they disembarked by tackling the other to the dock. Both of them identical in appearance and clothing, but differentiating them from another is the colour of their respective cheerleading outfit.

"I'm prettier!" The red one proclaimed as she pulled her sister by the hair. Her beauty mark contributing to the difference.

"No, I am!" Defied the one wearing blue. The dissimilar colouring allowed a simpler method of differentiating who's who aside from the beauty mark and attitudes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Amanda and Samantha, better known as Amy and… Sammy." Chris introduced quarrelling twins. Either by a stroke of luck or well-timed remembrance, Chris had managed to utter the correct pronunciation of the latter's name. _**[4]**_

Even as she fought her sister, Amy had heard it with perfect clarity. "It's Samey, because she's a _spare_ me!"

"My name... is _Sammy_!" Declaring herself, the one in blue clawed her mean sister right in the face which only intensified the quarrel.

"CHEF!" Springing into action at Chris' command, Chef Hatchet released the now-pacified Sierra from his grasp and pulled the twins away from each other. Unfortunately, this made Cameron nervous at the now unshackled fangirl and hid behind B once again.

Even after Chef pulled the feuding twins away from each other, they continued their fight on a verbal front as Amy continued her screeching. "You're a bad sister! I'm the better twin so you should do as I say!"

"I don't have to listen to you anymore Amy. And I'm not letting you change my name to stroke your f **/bleep/** g ego." Sammy growled in defiance. Ever since Pahkitew Island, Sammy had stood up for herself more often. This didn't sit well with Amy, who constantly attempted to place Sammy under her heel again.

"You should be grateful. If it weren't for me you wouldn't be on this show!"

"Bulls **/bleep/** t! I auditioned myself and you just hitched a ride. The only reason you auditioned was so you could keep ruining my life on the island miserable. So don't even imply that I only got on the show because of you!" Sammy yelled back.

Knowing Chef was about two seconds away from separating them again, Noah made one of his usual quips. "Normally I don't get involved in family squabbles, but we all know that Sammy's right. You're a b **/bleep/** h **."**

"Her name's Samey egghead! A spare me! A lesser me! A worthless me!" Amy emphasised each word with adamant intensity. Needless to say, this level of dehumanisation she's displaying made everyone dislike her even more than watching it on television.

"Actually, I clearly heard Chris and she say her name was Sammy." Dawn pointed out.

This resulted in Amy baring her venomous fangs at the moonchild. "Mind your business!"

"Ahem! Trying to host a show here!" Chris cleared his throat in annoyance as Chef moved to the third-gen's spot while continuing to deal with the twins. Things turned for the worst when Sammy managed to tear a handful of her sister's hair strands.

"My hair!" Amy screeched in horror as everyone and even her sister became silent for a moment. Riled up at the desecration of her hair, she began reaching her vicious hands on her sister with a ferocity that was even too much for the Cooker to handle.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" Fed up, Chef unceremoniously threw Sammy into the vigilant hands of Jasmine and slammed a knife-hand at the back of Amy's neck. The force incapacitated her instantaneously, brief paralysis coming first before unconsciousness followed afterwards.

Sammy sighed in relief and began to breathe easier. "Good for her." Everyone watched as Chef places the mean twin on a one-armed bear grip just like he did to Sierra. The python that was his arm strong enough to keep her from the ground. The 39th boat arrived and disembarking is a contestant of the shortest stature in the competition.

"Max, the self-proclaimed evil incarnate who's actually nothing more but a pathetic excuse of a villain." The manner in which Chris did the introduction offended the said contestant.

"YOU LIE, MCLEAN!" Max boomed with hurt pride. "I truly am the purest form of EEEEVIL, my ideas and inventions alone in the previous season explains it – utterly diabolical and causing misery to others." The third-gen groaned as he let out his trademark evil laugh.

"Oh please, you're forgetting that your schemes only worked because Scarlett bothered to help you. Without her, you wouldn't last long in the contest. But I agree that you're the purest form of evil, but only a specific type; you're _the_ personification of incompetent evil."

"How dare you fool?! Such evil will not allow insolence in their presence!" Max got up into Noah's face as some contestants erupted in a fit of laughter. "I have become so evil since Pahkitew Island, even Scarlett would tremble before me!"

While Max broke out into a fit of evil laughter once again, Chris only smirked as he knew what would happen next. "And here comes our next contestant... Scarlett!" Loud sirens were heard once again as yet another police boat approach the dock. Everyone winced in horror as they saw Scarlett by the bow, wheeled in a straight jacket and lacking her trademark glasses and bun that kept her waist-long orange hair above the neck.

Like Duncan, she was flanked by a multitude of guards. However, instead of normal police, guarding Scarlett is **an** **entire SWAT team,** donned in full-body armour that concealed every part of their body, even their face **.** It definitely seemed overkill from an observer's standpoint yet given her action in PI, it's completely justified.

Whatever boastful aura Max had have instantly evaporated upon gazing at his former sidekick. Superposing the confident facade was factual terror as he screamed and ran towards the petrified contestants.

"Have you lost your mind Chris?!" Shawn asked horror as Scarlett was wheeled before the host with her armed escort.

"Why are you letting her back on? She tried to kill us all just so she could win the million!" Jasmine followed her boyfriend with her own objection.

"It's Chris, what do you expect?" Noah's dry comment looked slightly choked due to the twinge of apprehension from Scarlett's arrival.

"It's the rule. Everyone who has competed in Total Drama _must_ compete this season… Even felons such as Duncan." Chris replied to their complains with absolute nonchalance over their well-being as he faced the arrival while her escort wordlessly stood by, ready in case Scarlett tries to go violent. "Scarlett, enjoyed your prison sentence just like Duncan? After all, both of you are criminals."

"There's a big difference between a vandal and an attempted murderer you know – an attempted mass murderer, I may add." Duncan clarified the massive gap between them in terms of criminality.

"And another difference would be me not being a sweetheart." A vein bulged in Duncan's head over Scarlett's retort.

"Point taken." Chris said with minimal hints of amusement before returning to his serious demeanour. "But don't think we forgot what you tried to pull off in Pahkitew, try something funny and we won't hesitate to give you a full prison sentence."

Chris turned his attention to her SWAT escorts, gesturing at her restraints. "Officers, if you would." The SWAT team began unstrapping Scarlett's bonds. It would appear that the reveal of her true nature had removed the purpose of her previous clothes, which served to cement her image of innocence in PI. The yellow sweater and teal skirt were replaced by a white long-sleeved polo shirt buttoned just below her neck and a checkered skirt with the colours of burgundy and black, only the black shoes remained as the white socks were replaced by their dark brown above-the-knee counterparts. _**[5]**_

Finally released from her shackles Scarlett stepped off into the wooden surface of the dock, the snapping of stiff bones audible from stretching. Scarlett wordlessly walked past the host and into the group Chris as he sent her SWAT escort away.

"You guys can't be serious right?" Someone from the first-gen called out to the retreating enforcers of the law. Ironically, it had to be Duncan himself. "She tried to murder several people to make a quick buck and you're just handing her back as if it was nothing?"

In response one of them stopped to stare at Duncan, the sunset on their left momentarily inverting the dark black visors of the officer into transparency.

"Orders are orders kid, get over it." He retorted in a deep gruff voice. Shivers ran across his skin upon catching sight of what lies beneath - a full-head balaclava covered everything save for the area around the man's eyes, showcasing the pale-white skin tone and pitch-black eyes, before he turned back and proceeded to the boat.

 _Great, now I'm seeing things. I need some sleep as soon as this is over._ It seems like sleep deprivation is also affecting Duncan's ability to distinguish reality from his imagination...

Or so he thought.

What he didn't know is that it wasn't any sort of hallucination, as Dawn had seen it as well in her own eyes. Perturbed, she broke her vow and tried perceiving their auras as they got on the boat, feeling even more unnerved as she cannot perceive any surrounding them as anyone should. Never in her life has she encountered something like this.

It was as if either... Something is shielding them… or they lacked an aura to be even seen in the first place.

On the other hand, every contestant had their eyes glued to the approaching Scarlett, emotions ranging from fright to wariness as she towered before the diminutive form of her _master._

"Hello Max." Her voice hissed with pure venom, making Max quiver even more as her green eyes casts an intense gaze capable of igniting wood and shattering rock.

"S-S-Scarlett, h-how nice to s-see you again." Max stammered underneath that fearsome gaze. "I like your new look, it suits you very well if you'll be my sidekick once again." Before he even knew it, Scarlett lifted him by the collar in one hand and brought him to her face, her rage even more evident upon hearing that damned sobriquet.

"I'm not... your SIIIIIDEKIIIIIICK!" Scarlett screamed at the top of her lungs before throwing Max over the bleacher and into the water, where Fang immediately attacks him. Whereas everyone peered to watch with even the slightest twinges of concern, Scarlett watched the entire ordeal with satisfaction, particularly when the mutated shark managed to trap him in his jaws.

The ordeal lasted long enough for the next boat to come to view. Max managed to climb back to the dock, panting in terror and with bruises in his body; to which he sat away from Scarlett.

"And here's our last contestant for the third-gen... Dave!"

Shock and disgust overwhelmed everyone over the appearance of the aforementioned contestant, especially those who participated in PI with him. Though his hair regrew back to its original state during the final challenge in PI, the same cannot be said to his face. It was not as it used to be, long claw-mark scars now lay carved on his face and has remained there ever since.

Being the sadist he was, Chris had to make a crack about it. "Welcome back Dave. You're looking great as always."

What he wasn't expecting was for Dave to get up into his face. "Oh really McLean? Maybe I should make your face look that too? I've got a lot of experience hurting people in the past six months." As opposed to it's whiny, dorky tone from Season 6, Dave's voice now had the hushed bloodlust one would expect from a slasher villain.

Despite being frightened by his former friend's new attitude much like most of the contestants, Shawn stepped forward in an attempt to calm him down. "Chill bro, threatening people isn't gonna get you very far."

"Yeah, you're being kind of scary." Sky advised cautiously at the angered Dave, which backfired due to his burning hatred of her.

"You think I'm scary Sky? Well I'll tell you what's scary. Being left all alone... on a mechanical island... WITH A DERANGED ROBOT BEAR WHICH MAULS YOU AND CLAWS HALF YOUR FACE OFF!" Dave practically screamed, scaring both Shawn and Sky.

Luckily Leshawna intervened before things got any worse. "Whoa there boy, I'm not saying what you went through was right, but threatening people like that is way too far."

"Whatever. Stay out of my way you fat nigger!" Everyone gasped at how overboard Dave's response went, insulting not only Leshwana, but also every person of African descent. _**[6]**_

"WHA' DID HE JUST SAY!" Anne Maria thundered. Lightning was about to eat a protein bar until he crushed the snack in provoked rage as a stirred Leonard pulled out his spellbook with an intent of casting an offensive spell towards his castmate. Even those of benign such as B, DJ and Cameron were frowning.

"Man! You just got yourself in a big trouble." Jo mocked the unfortunate contestant before exploding into laughter, who remained resolute and unmoving from his spot with a face that said he meant it.

"Oh no. No. No. No. No." An ominous form of Leshawna manifested as she walked forward, something even Heather herself dared not unleash. "You did not just say that. I repeat, you did not JUST SAY THAT!" Leshawna growled and began to lay a fierce beatdown on Dave for his words, to which he meets head-on.

"Should we do something or..."

"Nah. Let's just move on." Chef cut of Trent and rolled his eyes, miffed with Dave's racist comment.

Despite so, the lean Dave appeared to have withstood everything the stout woman inflicted. He kicked her away from pinning him to the ground. As he rose, Leshawna charged once again but he delivered a direct kick on her gut. The kick itself was made without mercy nor regret, and strong enough to halt her advance. It was followed by a right hook on the face that actually sent the sassy sister far into the ground reeling in pain.

"Leshawna!" Screamed some of the first-gen, chief among them were Harold and Gwen. Everyone just remained still, stunned over the display of violence from someone they remembered as overtly benign.

"Dave you've seriously hurt her, stop this!" As shocked as everyone was, Sky desperately pleaded with her friend as he began walking towards the fallen sister.

"Dave, hold yourself. Should Leshawna be unable to compete because of you, you're getting the boot on the spot." Chris quickly explained.

The scarred contestant stopped and considered for a moment. He could simply finish this right here and right now. After all, he doesn't want any more business with this damn show that cost him dearly. On the other hand, he could hold himself for now and participate once more, where he'll have the opportunity to get revenge on those that wronged him.

Drama in the vocabulary used by the Host with the Most.

Ultimately, he conceded to the latter.

"Fine! I made my point anyway on this nigger." Dave walked past the reeling sister as Gwen and Harold ran to aid their friend, exchanging glares with them, particularly Harold, as they cross paths. The next glaredown would be that of the black contestants in the assembly, matching them all in intensity.

"Seriously, what has gotten into you?!" Crying out in disbelief was Shawn, eyes critical and unable to believe the act done by his friend.

Dave looked at him coldly. "Two things: Keith... and SCUBA BEAR!"

"Christ dude, that's about six months ago. You should just let go of the past." It earned the Zombie Nut nothing but an enraged Dave closing into his face.

"Try letting go of the past with a broken heart AND A FACE LIKE THIS!" He emphasised by pointing a finger to his face.

Terrified at what his friend has become after his misfortunes, Shawn and Sky and pretty much everyone in the third-gen kept their distance from him with varying degrees of apprehension. Even Sugar kept her distance from the clearly deranged contestant. Meanwhile, many of the black contestants still kept glaring daggers at Dave for his use of that hated racial slur.

"OK, now with that settled. Let's move on." Despite being shocked at how Dave changed in the course of six months, Chris decided to continue. "Now with you guys here, save for some of the first-gen, now's the perfect time for me to give you what you've all been waiting for in six months – a series of reveals exclusive to this season alone."

"The first of those would be-." He was cut short by the ringing of his phone. "Chris here." It was the producers. "I've told you sirs, any Ezekiel or Dakota-like disasters won't happen again as I've promised... Okay fine, so you still don't trust me much that you've decided to put a safeguard, lay it on me." Chris ended with a smile on his face, clearly assuming that this safeguard the producers have in store would benefit him...

An assumption proven wrong moments later, as his unicoloured eyes went wide with both shock and disbelief.

"WHAT!" The Cast plus Chef jolted at the sudden rise of the Host's voice, whatever the subject of the conversation made him unhappy. "You can't be serious?! T-THIS IS MY SHOW! He can settle with that race-ripoff of his!"

"Race ripoff? Hold on. Is he talking about-" By a rare display of intelligence, Geoff seemed to have guess what was the subject about and would've been given the opportunity to continue further if not for an interruption.

"That's right!"

From the hand-glider soaring overhead, a man dropped before the bewildered form of the host. This man has a well-known connection with Total Drama for his spin-off show. Despite this fame however, most contestants seemed to not recognise him save for a few and the four that competed in his show.

"Who's that guy?" Duncan asked, moments before Noah spoke in disbelief.

"Don? What are doing here?" The Smart Alec asked the million dollar question he's certain that Geoff, Owen and Leonard have in their minds as well. The participants of the Ridonculous Race were mentally scratching their heads over the unforeseen appearance of it's titular presenter here on the newest season of Total Drama.

"As you've heard from Chris, the producers aren't quite trusting that he'll prevent any more lawsuits. So they hired me to watch over the well-being of the contestants by hosting this season of Total Drama with him." Don explained.

"Wow, colour me surprised." Noah remarked with a smirk as Owen seemed more prepared for the season.

"Oh man, this is soooo awesome. Now we have two hosts for this season, can this possibly even get better."

"T-This can't be happening!" A still wide-eyed Chris exclaimed as he continued to converse with the producers. "I'm not doing this with him, this is my show!"

"You don't have a choice Chris." A smirking Don turned towards the host. "And before you can even ask them the producers presents you an ultimatum: host Eden Island with me… or be fired from the network."

"WHAT!" The Host hollered.

"That's right you heard me Chris, you'll be sacked out of the network and have all of your benefits revoked. Since you pretty much depend entirely on us to support your lifestyle, you'll go broke in a matter of time. What do you think would _she_ think?" Out of the sudden, Chris grabbed Don by the collar with a dramatic change in expression. Everyone tensed at how quickly things turned south.

"I'm fine agreeing with the producers since I definitely have no other choice. But don't you even mention _her_ when coercing me, GOT THAT?" Don nodded nervously as he was released, having realised too late that he crossed a line when dealing with Mclean. "And since I have nothing to do with the next reveal, feel free to do them." Chris walked past into the contestants in a mildly foul mood.

"What was that about?" Zoey inquired to Chef while Chris grumpily sat beside him on the bleachers. The cooker paid her no mind as he narrowed his own eyes at the chestnut-haired man.

"You shouldn't have included baby-girl in this subject Don." Chef shook his head.

"Yeah man, Chris gets nasty in an instant." Trent added, unintentionally drawing the attention of his castmates.

"You seem to know who they're talking about?" Gwen inquired curiously towards her ex-boyfriend. Trent fell into anxiety over the attention.

"Well… uhh..." One glance from Chris' menacing eyes was enough to derail him from speaking the truth. "Have you seen how Chris got angry, he must not like talking about her. Just saying."

It was a rationale well enough for them to accept. But still, some questions remain unanswered.

"Ignoring them, Chris just said that he has nothing to do with the next reveal that he was about to announce. What does that mean?" Noah asked inquisitively. Don continued standing casually from the query of the Schemer, but he couldn't help but express the knowing devilish sly smirk growing on his face. "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that the second reveal is-"

"That's right. The participants from the Ridonculous Race will be competing as well."

Whereas most of the cast registered this news with predictable surprise, the effect on the four was stronger – their features brightening akin to the fireworks of a grand celebration commemorating an event.

"For real Don-brah?!" Geoff implored, overjoyed by this prospect.

"Goodness gracious, this is the greatest thing to transpire." Leonard came next. On the background, Owen howled a hossana that expressed his happiness as this season just became more… awesome.

But out of the three, it was Noah who has the strongest reaction.

"YEEEEES!" Everyone was startled as Noah had just lost his calm and collected demeanour, standing and stretching his arms as high as it can get and screaming joyously at the orange heavens. More out of character acts followed; he ran towards the end of the aisle at the top where he did a spinning backflip down to the dock.

"OH YEAH!" He returned to the same pose, an uncharacteristically enthusiastic expression visible to all. It was during the awkward silence that Noah came back to his senses and realised what he just did. Now everyone is gawking at him as a result.

"Umm..." Embarrassed under the collective gazes of the cast, Noah slowly and wordlessly retreated to his spot.

While this first reveal is the source of excitement for the four, the rest haven't much any idea regarding the subject matter.

"The Ridonculous Race? What about it anyway?"

Beardo made a disk-backtrack to further emphasize the anti-climatic moment.

"What?! You don't know?" Don stared disbelievingly at the skinny girl.

"Well… we do know, but the funny thing is none of us bothered to even watch it except Sierra, who blogs as usual. Heck we just knew Noah, Owen, Geoff and Leonard have competed." She clarified sheepishly.

"Same with us." Sam called for his generation while the third followed with a wave of nods.

Each response furthering the host's incredulity. The Ridonculous Race was advertised worldwide and got the attention of many people as it would to Total Drama even if it's just a spin-off. Yet only one of the originals even watched it?!

"Ha! At least most of mine stayed loyal to me, save for a few of course." Having subsided his anger before, Chris happily jeered his fellow host with Chef Hatchet trying his best to suppress his chuckle.

"Like hell we're loyal to you." Duncan snarled.

"OK, how's that even possible." Called out a similarly flabbergasted Noah. "It has 'Total Drama' on its title and yet none of you guys didn't even bother to check it out as you would to any other episodes?"

"Well, we assumed that our contracts were finished since It's been so long since we've participated. It continued until we've received the announcement form via email." DJ proclaimed innocently as he scratched the back of his neck.

Heather turned to the only person other than the four to know this RR greatly. "Sierra, since you're the only one who watched it, care to tell us something?"

Sierra felt the gaze of all veterans fall down to her. "I don't wanna spoil. But all I can say is that RR is very entertaining and similar to the World Tour season, save for the singing though. Don continue, it'll be dark here soon."

Though he was still in disbelief, Don forcefully asserted back his composure upon remembering that it was only a matter of time before the first boat containing the RR participants arrived, not to mention the setting of the sun to transition the day into night.

"Thank you for that Sierra. Unbelievable as that may be, prepare to meet them nonetheless. Boats would arrive here in this dock the same manner as the Veterans of Total Drama did, but each one carrying a team of the Ridonculous Race."

Relief materialised in the sleep-deprived expression of Duncan. "A boat for each team? Man this ordeal would be over real quick. We can wrap this up-"

"I hate to interrupt Duncan. But by team, he meant a pair of contestants and not like TD's usual definition. That means this won't be over quickly." Noah corrected his fellow generation member, who groaned in disappointment.

"Without further ado, here come the teams." Don observed as the first boat came to view. It wasn't long before it reached the dock and the first pair disembarked. "Welcome… Carrie and Devin – Formerly competing as the Best Friends, but now I'd rather call them… Love Birds."

"Awww… That's like a sweet name for us Don, we appreciate it." Carrie said

"Are you two still calling each other homie?" Don inquired.

"We're past that." Devin informed as he pulled his best friend-turned-girlfriend to his body. "It's honey now."

More aws came from the Veterans and it was starting to get on the Host's nerves.

"Will you cut it out with those aws for God's sake!" Chris complained out loud, but none paid him any mind.

"Wow, didn't know the two of you got married. Congratulations." Noah called out in a mix of complement and sarcasm.

"Thanks Noah." Both Carrie and Devin praised their fellow racer.

"Unfortunately." Don called their attention back. "Most space in the bleachers is already occupied by the Veterans. That means you'll have to stand up in front of them for the duration."

"Hey, don't worry about it! We'll help you guys out." Duncan called before trading looks with his generation. After a few moments, the entire first-gen stood from their original positions and moved upward along with Chris and Chef, vacating the first two rows near the ground for the new arrivals to sit in. It spread like lightning among the others and they did the same. Of course, not all wanted to offer such generosity, but their peers made them concede otherwise.

"I take back what I said. The first two rows are now free for accommodation." Don reaffirmed his previous statement as Carrie and Devin went towards the bleachers and sat before the first-gen.

Soon after, the next boat arrived and coming out is another pair of individuals. Before Don could even introduce them however…

"Hey Court! I didn't know you have a sister!" Scott teased his old flame over the carbon copy standing before them all. Everyone actually believed this and stared at the CIT as a result.

"I don't have a sister! I've never even met her before." as much as she's surprised just like the others, Courtney was quick to clarify things.

"Ellody and Mary… Welcome to Eden Island!" Don introduced, getting back his attention to the new arrivals. The Geniuses paid him no heed however and resolved to fix the awkward situation of it's other member.

"I can't proclaim that I'm shocked by this instance of mistaken identity. I've been mistaken for you ever since the original airing of Total Drama Island on Wawanakwa Island, Lake Muskoka, Ontario, Canada." Ellody said in her normal pernickety nature. This did little but augment the astonishment of everyone, with Courtney looking even more flabbergasted than she was before.

"Wooow... and she sounds just like you." Lindsay pointed out to Courtney, genuinely amazed. _**[7]**_

"Seems like eons ago." Mary snorted over her partner's explanation. "Of course not literal eons, I was just using a metaphor."

"A rather good usage my compatriot." Ellody complimented her partner.

"Great more nerds, just what this stupid show needs. Can we go on with me winning the prize money already." Heather complained to the hosts, causing Don to roll his eyes.

"Seriously, how do you put up with this?"

"Ibuprofen, and tranquillizers. Mostly tranquillizers." Chef answered.

"She does look a lot like you Courtney." Bridgette pointed out to her friend. "And as Lindsay pointed, she sounds exactly like you actually."

"They could be twins. Possibly separated at birth." Duncan followed, this did nothing but earn him a glare from his ex.

"Highly improbable. Though skin pigmentation and voice would say otherwise, I'm of Indian descent while Courtney's birth records from shows her as Hispanic, born in Ontario from Colombian immigrants." Ellody disclosing this amount of personal information earned her the stares of everyone. "I got the information from – the treasure trove of everything TD-related and managed by hers truly."

Of course, when one seeks to know something about the show or the people in it, they just need to put Sierra's blog site on the search engine.

"Ok, I get it we look alike. It's not that big a deal!" Courtney implored her lookalike for a resolution, mildly aggravated by how a sheer coincidence was perpetuated in the subject.

"Not like it matters. The million's going to me anyway so you might as well give up losers." Scott sneered.

Mary snorted. "A definite improbability from someone who exhibits magnetism to physical injury and sharks." Both she and Ellody went beside the Love Birds.

The 44th boat reached the dock and disembarking are another pair of contestants.

"Fashion Bloggers Tom and Jen, your timing is impeccable."

"Did somebody say fashion." Lindsay stood from her seat with genuine interest written on her face. "And you have a blog about it?!"

"Yup, updated and managed 24/7 regarding current trends or new ones." As they approach, Jen strikes up a conversation with the veteran blondie. "We have about a hundred thousand followers all around the world. In fact, we just updated this morning regarding a new two-piece swimsuit." She pulled out her phone when they're close enough and handed it to her. More of by natural human curiosity, those near Lindsay leaned in to take a peek.

"Wow." Lindsay cooed over the picture of an aqua-green swimsuit as the others whistled. "It's gorgeous. I just hope that I find one that's my _size_." With that she stared down at her chest, It was then the Fashion Bloggers realised a body _complication_ that is her large chest, making the situation more awkward was that it's something they just noticed right now.

"Oh." Being a man, Tom's cheeks reddened slightly more than Jen's over this discovery. "Umm… don't worry. In addition to being bloggers, we also serve as fashion brokers. We can adjust the clothing to accommodate _certain_ sizes."

Like light, the appreciative smile of the veteran competitor fell to him. He smiled in return, albeit with exposed teeth and reddish cheeks. He was soon pulled away by Jen after taking back her phone and sat beside the Geniuses while the 45th boat made land. Waves of impression resonated at how massive and ripped one of them is.

"Ryan and Stephanie, everything good between you Daters?" Don asked the approaching African-Canadian participants.

"All's been better since the Race." Stephanie answered before lovingly hugging her mountain-of-a boyfriend. "My man here helped me make up for my faults back in the Race, we'll do much better here."

"Great, more niggers. Just what we needed." Dave muttered in a tone of pure unmitigated loathing. He didn't know it was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"EXCUSE ME!" Stephanie threw a glare at the Indian man along with her partner, the African-Canadians in the bleachers had their anger reignited upon hearing that odious African term. Don was taken aback at the audacity of the veteran contestant to say this on live television.

"Dave, you have to stop saying _that_." As much as she's enraged like the rest of her ethnic kin, Jasmine endeavoured to pacify the changed contestant that was once kind. "You'll only leave a _very_ bad impression and many enemies in its wake. You need to ease your-."

"SHUT UP, I DON'T ASSOCIATE MYSELF WITH SLAVES!"

That proved to be the final straw for one Afro-Canadian contestant.

"WHY YOU!" Again, Brick and Geoff moved in time to restrain a raging second-gen contestant. The difference is that it wasn't Anne Maria this time, rather it's Lightning whom they're holding down from wreaking vengeance upon Dave. Seeing this, Dave moved his gaze from the shocked Jasmine into the furious white-hair and kept a close eye on him in preparation of defending himself.

Fully incensed and seeking to use this distraction, Stephanie turned to Ryan. "Throw me." The burly man was more than happy to comply and hefted his girlfriend, hurling her to the offender afterwards like a steel javelin. Dave was caught off-guard by the punch to his face and neither was he able to present a proper resistance as Stephanie assaulted him relentlessly.

A stunned audience watched. Most, particularly the black contestants, don't even consider stopping the Dater as he certainly deserved the punishment. Some do, but they can't afford the risk of receiving her hate. Stephanie ceased beating Dave after he soon slipped into unconsciousness and pulled away, watching as Sky and Shawn attend to their friend with looks of worry.

"F **/bleep/** g racist!" She snarled before wordlessly taking her spot beside the Love Birds with Ryan, their good mood soured by a single event. In the background, some of the black contestants were giving her approving looks.

After that fiasco, an aghast Don remarked. "Well that went explosive. To the non-black folks watching this, let what just happened serve as a forewarning why the N-Word should **never** be said."

The black contestants on the background nodded approvingly even more to those watching them.

The 46th boat arrived and the Veterans, sans the four and Sierra, were surprised to see elderlies before them. But it wasn't all that surprised them, what did even more was that one has a striking similarity with the Host with the Most.

"Gerry and Pete, the Tennis Rivals." Don introduced, mere moments before his counterpart mocked him.

"You have old geezers competing for your show?" Chris called to Don in a rhetorical manner. "It must have been weak and lame compared to mine, seeing how you have flimsy contestants."

"Oh come on, Chris. Is that what you're gonna say to your old man after a long time apart?" It was Pete who spoke first in amusement. Meanwhile, some contestants are looking back and forth between the two men whose ages were years apart.

"Umm… are you two related?" Sky inquired. "Because he looks like you in some way."

"Probably his dad." B shrugged his large shoulders. This reasoning earned approving nods among them.

"Why didn't I even notice that back in the Race?" Noah let out a rhetorical question.

Chris groaned in annoyance and resolved the situation before it became a big issue like that of Courtney and Ellody. "No, he's my uncle. He and my dad are identical twins." _**[8]**_

Understanding dawned in their expressions as a chorus of 'Ohhs' resonated over the dock.

"Yep, completely identical. Of course, I'm the handsome one." Pete gestured to himself with a smile.

His partner snorted. "Oh yeah, what does your brother look like, Bigfoot?" Gerry rolled his eyes before both of the old men burst out laughing.

"This just got so much easier, if we're playing against old farts!" Heather sneered at the Tennis Rivals.

"Must be harder for you girly. At least teenage boys like farting!" Pete quipped, causing him and his rival to chortle again.

"We might have trouble against her actually. She played like Ripley from _Alien 3_ in Action. Or at least she looked like her!"

While Heather gasped in an offended manner, several of the first and second generation contestants burst into laughter as well. Despite still reeling from the pain, Leshawna joined in. "Ohoho they roasted her like a ham!"

Heather was visibly fuming from the spot as the two old men approached and would've already seated in their chosen spots before the third-gen until they noticed something.

"Whoa, what happened to him." Gerry asked regarding the unconscious form of Dave.

Neither Sky nor Shawn had the chance to explain as the Daters had taken the lead. "The guy's racist. So Steph taught him a lesson." Ryan explained, throwing a scornful look at the KO'd contestant.

"Why be angry? He's as dark as you folks." Pete jested before laughing, thinking such statement as adorned with hilarity. This – however – drew gasps from everyone, even his partner.

Anger that had subsided within Stephanie is rejuvenated. "You think this is funny?!" She asked angrily, not even after some challenges this competition is already testing her patience. Her fellow kin leered at the laughing senior.

Gerry crossed his arms with a scowl. "That's actually crossing the line you know."

"Not cool man, not cool." Chris shook his head disapprovingly. Pete stopped after finally noticing everyone's reaction and sat along with Gerry. The 47th boat came forward and the passengers disembarked… or rather, tried to… and failed miserably, crashing into the dock the moment they left.

"Mickey and Jay, looks like the Adversity Twins aren't looking well." Don remarked. True to his word, the twins looked sick. Their skin waned into a lighter shade as their bodies hunched down and their eyes slightly narrowed, bespeaking their lightheadedness. "What happened?"

"The boat... too fast." Jay began, struggling to speak in his weakness. "N-N-Not good."

Mickey's cheeks bloated and retched his stomach's contents while Jay collapsed on his limbs, coughing loudly and uncontrollably as if something has caught itself inside his throat. The display was enough to make Don back away for the sake of his own health. Whether this affliction is infectious or not, like he's taking any chances by being in close proximity with them. Sure enough, the Veterans mimicked him in a reactionary sense. They were taken aback by the degree of physical frailty the twins demonstrated, so much that they may even consider Cameron a pinnacle of physical perfection.

"Wow... And I thought smart guy here's weak." Lightning jabbed a thumb at the Bubble Boy near him.

"Yeah right, It just proves that this Ridonculous Race of his must be a… completely Ri-donkey-lous Waste." Jo quipped in a sarcasm rivalling that of the Schemer named Noah. It invoked laughter from those either mean or indifferent to the spin-off. But perhaps, it was Chris' himself that was the loudest. Some fixed them annoyed glances however, mostly from the participants of the Race.

"Oh don't be quick to judge. The first to arrive are the lame ones, you haven't seen the more interesting pairs yet."

"HEY!" The RR contestants cried out at Don.

"Can we pay attention to the fact that they're sick." Bridgette protested with Courtney nodding in agreement. "They should be in a hospital! Not in the contest."

"The last thing this show needs is for someone dying out due to some untreated malady." The mocha-skinned latina added.

Don rolled his eyes. "Oh don't be silly, it's nothing serious. It's just an exaggerated sea-sickness that'll go away soon. Besides, you're looking at soft meat… very soft meat. In fact, I'd be surprised if they lasted long in this season with all you guys around."

"Soft may they be, but they make it up for tenacity." Noah muttered to those near him, including Bridgette and Courtney, as the twins walked forward and sat before the second-gen.

The 47th boat arrived and bringing in another pair for Don to introduce… If he wasn't interrupted yet again like in the Geniuses' arrival and by the same person nonetheless.

"Hey Dawn, you didn't tell us your people are competing." Scott taunted the contestant below him, an act that resulted to B smacking him in the head. Dawn was as surprised as everyone is by this fact.

"One flower kid is already enough, two more is worse." Jo muttered in a sour tone. Compared to most of the first and second-gen, she doesn't have any big issue with the Moonchild, aside from her beating her first in everything of course.

"Maybe they're magical just like her." Everyone rolled their eyes at Lindsay's dumb suggestion.

"Can I please make an uninterrupted intro over here?!" Don protested before turning back to the arrivals. "The Vegans Laurie and Miles, ready for something _meaty_ this competition?"

Upon hearing that word, Laurie grabbed Don by the collar. "Don't. You even remind us of _that!_ Ever since the Race we've had trouble sleeping because we're having nightmares about the animals we've eaten in the Iceland challenge." She hissed venomously at Don, who could do nothing but gulp in apprehension.

"And let's not forget about the island of cannibals." Miles added her two cents in, crossing her arms in disdain. Don was eventually released and the Vegans proceed to the ever-growing assembly of contestants.

"Wait! You have a challenge set in a cannibal filled island?! Your Host must be as demented as ours." an appalled Courtney remarked to the RR participants below.

"Well, not really." Devin came to Don's defence. "There's never a cannibal island challenge, their plane crash-landed on one and it wasn't even an hour before a team rescued them. To top it off, Don's actually caring and attentive to us during the show. Despite being indifferent to our sake, we see Don as favourable to a degree."

"Despite being an ass sometimes." Laurie, the same Laurie who relentlessly assaulted Don after the non-elimination challenge in Iceland, begrudgingly admitted. She and Miles had stopped before the assembly during Don's apologism by Devin.

"I can't find any fault in his words. They're genuine." Having examined the Auras of each and every RR participant, Dawn confirmed this axiom. The three-gens were tempted to repudiate this apologism if they didn't notice how passionate Devin was.

"You hear that Chris. Unlike yours, my contestants see me in a positive light. Because I'm a fair person showing _actual_ concern for his contestants." Don felt empowered by pride from his contestants' favour. Had his emotional endurance been weak, he would've burst into tears of joy.

"Perhaps, Chris can learn a thing or two from you." Noah dryly suggested.

Chris scoffed. "Never gonna happen. Unlike mine, his show lacked drama and the challenges are not even a torture to be entertaining because he's too soft, that's why your Ridonculous Race will always remain in the shadow of Total Drama, because you don't have the guts to be ruthless."

Noah looked at Chris. "Umm… I would like to point out that the more appropriate term would be a sadistic s **/bleep/** ead."

"No one cares Know-It-All!" Chris screamed in annoyance under the chuckles surround him.

"Well at least I have contestants who like me and no prison record. Unlike you. Not to mention having a **racist contestant.** " Don said as he pointed dismissively at Dave.

Chris groaned. "I didn't even know that what made him go racist. Anyway, the next boat's here." he said, pointing to the approaching watercraft.

Meanwhile, few noticed that the Vegans went in front of the second-gen. "I'm sure you two would get along with our friend here." Zoey told the Vegans, motioning to Dawn who was beside her. "She had friends but she could use some who she can relate to."

"Sure." Miles said as they sat in front of the second-gen.

"Lightning's gonna sha-steamroll you weaklings. There ain't no protein in you to build muscles like mine." As a show of force, Lightning flexed his biceps and kissed them to prove his point.

Abashed at her competitor's behaviour, an embarrassed Zoey turned to them with a meek smile. "Ignore him."

"Sorry if my generation if my generation can be a bit harsh. I'm Dawn."

"Oh I know you, you're the one who can actually see auras." Miles almost immediately recognized her.

"Lucky, we usually have to guess what ours look like."

"I'd consider you the lucky ones. You've got Don and not Chris." Dawn gestured a hand to the Host in the bleachers.

"We don't like him. Mr. Mclean has garnered a bad reputation in the Green community for repeated animal and environmental abuse. But the greatest would be the toxification of Camp Wawanakwa." Laurie explained as both Vegans leered over the unknowing Host. The 48th boat arrived and needless to say, the Veterans were quite perturbed by their skating outfits and seemingly perpetual smile towards the camera.

"Well, well if it isn't the Ice Dancers Josee and Jacques. Not exactly I'm hoping for but at least one of the interesting pair of RR."

"Hello to our fans, we feel honoured to participate before your eyes once again in this grand competition." Jacques waved to the camera in synchrony with his partner, effectively ignoring the Host before them as some sort background figure.

"This time, we assure you that the gold **shall** be hours." Josee declared as her expression morphed into that of a vicious determined one.

Chris whistled in amazement, genuinely impressed. "You had the Olympic figure skaters Jacques and Josee in your Ridonculous Race. Now that's impressive, I have to admit. This is something. You guys must've rocketed your way through the Race eh?"

"Since when did you began imitating Ezekiel... eh?" Noah joked before revealing the dirt on the Skaters' names. "They did rocket through the competition – by frequently playing foul and sabotaging teams left and right in their ruthless obsession for first place."

"Well there goes my respect for them." Sky mumbled under her breath, making sure it's inaudible lest she end up like Dave during the Daters' arrival. As an aspiring olympian she held those that participated in the Olympics in a high regard, but that same respect evaporated upon the revelation of their unclean sportsmanship.

Duncan's expression brightened after a stray memory about these two crossed his mind. "Hey. Aren't they the ones that got humiliated in the Olympics after he dropped her on ice?" that statement of his had unintentionally drawn a glare from the Ice Dancers.

"Yeah. It was hilarious." Chris found himself chuckling at it with Chef. For once, even Don joined in; laughing at the Ice Dancers' expense.

"I remember that, did you enjoy kissing the ice back then. You seem so because your entire face is touching it." Several laughed at Jo's jest to the female ice skater. "Seems you've taken the passion for ice skating to a whole new level." These witticisms served nothing but inflame the skaters for their misfortunes.

"Don't you dare remind us!" Josee snarled over the assembly, she was already at the edge of throwing one of her notorious tantrums. Something everyone save for those that participated in the Race fail to realise. "We may have lost both the Olympics and the Race, but we still have the will for the GOLD! And we'll make you see IT!"

"Oui, our honour as winners will be restored and the prize money ours!" being a mere follower of his female partner, Jacques followed suit with his own declaration. _**[9]**_

Suddenly, the laughing stopped all the sudden and their expressions were replaced with pure terror. At first, they assumed this to be the result of their pledges and allowed the twinges of pride flow outward before it evaporated courtesy of realising that they're staring at something past them and Noah telling them the truth.

"I hate to break it up to you guys, but I think you should all run back while you still have the chance." Heeding his words, the Don and the Ice Dancers turned and matched the same level of apprehension felt by the others upon realising why as the sound of a motor engine getting closer… and louder.

On the ocean, the 49th boat was approaching the dock. While this is not a cause of concern under normal circumstances, one should note that the speedboat itself was **accelerating towards the dock.**

In panic, all three found themselves running to the Assembly before they even realised it. The boat made a sharp turn and came to a screeching halt just beside the end of the dock, unintentionally conjuring a large wave of water beneath the broadside and sending it crashing to the entire second-gen.

Greatly annoyed, a round of complaining took place from the main victims of this development. "WHAT THE F **/BLEEP/** K!" Jo cursed, furious as she and the others were drenched in ocean water.

On the other hand, Chris was cackling in delight at this stunt. "That was golden. I gotta know who these guys are."

Sure enough, the perpetrators disembarked into the dock.

"As I've expected." Don remarked as he approached the arrivals, visible displeasure written on his face. "Police Cadets Sanders and Macarthur – the winners of the Ridonculous Race."

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!" An exasperated Jacques screamed at their rivals. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!"

"Well, well if it isn't bronze gal and bronze dweeb. Long time no see. Competing for another streak of bronzes this competition?" Macarthur mocked their rivals, making sure to emphasise the 'bronze' word audibly.

"Don't you… SAY THAT **WORD** TO OUR FACES!" Josee's eye was twitching, appearing as if her rage can no longer be contained and was about explode from her mortal coil. The argument was about continue until Don had reasserted control over the conversation.

"Can you guys honestly explain what were you thinking?!" Don gave newly arrived duo a look that asked 'seriously?'.

"When she heard that the Ice Dancers were nearing the dock, Macarthur wanted to go now despite the fact that our schedule to arrive later; leading her to forcefully commander the boat from our driver." Sanders pointed to her partner then to the boat where a shaken intern arose beneath the windshield, who finally manned the wheel and went away.

As much as Josee wanted to argue further, she and Jacques left to sit down with the Tennis Rivals. But their glares remain glued to their rivals.

Chris whistled. "You have cops in your show as well? Now we're talking."

"Great, now the law is following me here." Duncan grumbled despondently and crossed his arms.

"We still haven't graduated the academy, so that makes us P.I.T - Police-in-Training." Sanders clarified.

"Wow, your course is just in the same field my friend." Bridgette placed an arm on Courtney's knee. "She's a Counselor-in-Training."

"Really? Where do you train at?" Sanders didn't sound generally impressed. Nonetheless, she inquired to better know someone who is undergoing a preparatory process like them. What's more is that their professions are in the same realm of the law.

"Summer Camp."

"We don't want any more of you in-Trainings here to boss us around, B-I-T-C-H over there is more than enough." Jo interjected, bisecting the conversation with her usual dismissive and authoritarian tone at the arrivals as she threw a glance to Courtney. The Jockette was obviously miffed by the stunt they've just pulled and now here she is, drenched in ocean water with her fellow generation from the mini-tsunami they've spurred.

"Hey!"

"Hey, you're not the boss of us. Sanders and I will win this contest just like in the Race!" the bad cop of the duo boasted with a look of fierce determination written on her face.

"I'm the one winning the million dollars, not some fatso cop and her weak-a **/bleep/** s partner!" Jo jeered the Police Cadets. From the third-gen's corner, the Ice Dancers began laughing at their mocked rivals.

"Really?" Macarthur muttered as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at the Jockette, glaring daggers that seemed to shine under the light of the descending sun.

"Macarthur that's enough." Sanders tried to curtail her partner's rising aggression. Should these two fight right now of all times, she would be inevitably dragged into the altercation.

"Stand down Sanders, it looks like someone's looking for a fight." It served as the death knell to her attempts as her partner's body stiffened in preparation for combat.

Jo stood from her seat. "Bring it on, I've got my own partner right here!" Sanders swallowed the lump in her throat as Eva rose to her full height. Her thin frame wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against this iron woman. Those who were sitting between the two pairs of women parted, not wanting to be trampled in the approaching brawl.

A brawl that would've happened if Don didn't quickly intervene. "OK, both of you calm down." He dashed between the pair on the verge of fighting, a look of concern etched on his face. "Save your newfound animosities for the contest. Go sit and wait else whoever does the first strike will face instant elimination."

With some begrudging reluctance, Jo submitted and returned to her seat along with her new friend Eva. The pacification took longer for MacArthur as anger is known to easily entrench itself in her heart, but calmed down nonetheless. Her eyes never leaving Jo's as her partner guided her to sit in front of the first-gen.

"You sure make enemies fast." Sanders sarcastically remarked.

"She started it!" The Bad Cop pouted to her more level-headed partner in a manner similar to a small child assigning the blame to another. But Macarthur is no longer a small child, and it wouldn't work.

"And you were quick to take the bait." Sanders proceeded to chastise her partner. "You really should consider what would happen before acting, like me. We're here to win the competition, not start more rivalries other than the Ice Dancers that would be nothing but obstacles. If not, then it might not only cost us the prize money. But maybe even more than my arm." She raised her left arm to her face if it would prove her point, having healed from the skeletal damage months ago.

Macarthur reeled back from the arm that had been a victim of her brashness in the Race. A memory like a sieve materialised in her incorporeal mind's equally incorporeal eye, the first time she bare sight to Sanders' broken arm, twisted in unnatural angles by high-speed blunt force trauma she caused. The bad cop blinked to vanquish that echo of the past.

The 50th boat docked and disembarking are two girls of substantial age gaps and vested in what can be described as expensive clothing.

"Let's give it up for Mom and Daughter – Kelly and Taylor. The two of you left the Race in good terms. Does it still stand up to this day?"

"Of course. In fact, she's spending more quality time with me as opposed to just her father. After revealing the truth, my husband and I decided to hire some instructors to improve her physical fitness and take measures to _unspoil_ her, if you know what I mean."

"Adjusting to the changes was difficult I admit; spending time every day to tire yourself and learn new things while your privileges were decreased to enforce manners. But you'll get used to it. I admit that it's dissatisfying at first, but hey, it's for your own good if you really want to be something you thought you were." Taylor revealed in her normal supercilious tone with a confident smile.

"Well then I hope you've trained hard, this contest will see if your workouts are worth the time and effort." Don remarked. With that, the two women strode forward to the assembly.

"Did you honestly even put any effort in any of your supposed training? I don't see any developments in your body." Noah asked dryly towards yet another of his fellow Ridonculous Race participants.

"Hey, I would have you know that I worked hard to make myself fit. Just because I'm pampered that doesn't mean I'm a lazy girl, You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Taylor retorted in a dismissive tone, which seemed to take some of them aback after assuming the rich girl to have a likeable personality.

Noah rolled his eyes. "We'll see if you live up to your claims."

"On the second thought, how about you invest some time on physical activities. I'm surprised at how an underdeveloped body could support that big brain of yours." Taylor's comeback drew a chorus of 'Ohs' directed at Noah. The Know-it-All could do nothing but remain in stunned silence after being effectively dissed by the arrival. It was a long moment where the feelings of both impotence and embarrassment ran high.

"Great, just what we need in this contest, another spoiled rich white girl like Heather." Leshawna voiced her dismay. She was one of the few that didn't react to the dissing of Noah, too preoccupied with her opinion on the new girl to even bother.

Gwen sighed in disappointment. This contest has enough room for these type of people, one snobby rich girl is bad, another would be too much to take. "This contest is just getting more interesting."

These nascent opinions made them forget to conceal these statements in hushed mutterings, drawing a response from the woman in question. "Excuse me, do you have any problems with me?" Taylor asked to the two first-gen contestants.

"First impressions alone, I can already tell you as mean and snobby. It's either you're gonna behave... or you and i are gonna have a problem… a _big_ problem."

"Like that's going to intimidate me. I'll be looking forward to it, what a better way to test myself." Taylor challenged the veteran, confident about her physical fitness. "Also, how about you get a diet. Your fat a **/bleep/** seems to be taking up a lot of space on that bleacher."

Insults about her body figure is one of the most common ways to agitating Leshawna. "Why you!" An arm on her shoulder quickly brought her rise to a halt before she stared at the perpetrator.

It was Gwen.

"That's enough. Let it go for now. You're still hurt from what happened earlier." The Sassy sister of the first generation took a few seconds to concede to her friend.

Heather found herself fascinated with Taylor's attitude. "Now that's interesting. I can see ourselves getting well acquainted."

"Couldn't agree more." Taylor returned the compliment with a gesture of a smile, before heading to her seat in front of the third-gen. It was a logical choice since the first and second-gen are out of the question; she just made an enemy in the former and the latter was still wet with water, and she's not going to get this skirt drenched.

It was in this awkward moment of tranquillity that Kelly opted to speak again. "You're making friends fast sweetie… and enemies."

Taylor would've replied to her mother if she didn't notice the unconscious contestant near her. "Umm… what happened to him?" The question was directed to the third-gen, but it was Ryan of the Daters that answered.

"Guy couldn't shut his racist mouth, so Steph put him to sleep." The hulking bodybuilder explained with a look of malice directed at the unconscious contestant.

Taylor snorted. "Big mistake."

The next boat finally arrived and instead of dropping a pair of contestants, four disembarked the watercraft. All of them wearing the same dark purple t-shirt bearing the design of a horned frog head.

"Stepbrothers Chet and Lorenzo along with the Rockers Spud and Rock..." Don introduced the four new arrivals. "Wearing the same shirts, I wonder why?"

"Well, after the Race they invited us to play video games over their house. One of the games was the latest Guitar Hero and we can't help but be impressed at how good they play. So we decided to invite them to our band, it's good that we're still open for membership." It was Rock that first spoke to explain the predicament.

"Lorenzo and I took the offer and really appreciate our time in the band. Now here we are, four members of the Devil Frogs." Chet said; his shirt different for featuring torn sleeves to expose the entirety of his arms.

"So that makes you four a single team now?" All four nodded to Don's inquiry. Symbolising their status as one unified group, they began to move for the assembly. Not five or even two seconds though...

"Huh? Where are we? This isn't the hotel." Out of the sudden, Spud's face transitioned from expressing blankness to surprise as he registered the radical change of surroundings. Gone was the pristine appearance and air-conditioned atmosphere of the hotel where they stayed since yesterday and now all that replaced it is a green vegetation and temperate air of the area.

As usual, his partner was there in another instance of his periods of dubiety.

"Umm… Spud. We have arrived on the island…" Confusion remained latched on Spud's face, the answer was insufficient to abate the confusion in his mind. So his friend continued. " In Eden Island… where the contest is set."

Realisation finally dawned on him. "We're in a contest? Awesome!" He exclaimed at the top of his lungs, fists raised towards the orange sky.

"GO DEVIL FROGS!" Lorenzo shouted. Hyped by the sudden adrenaline of their band name being used as a rallying cry, all four went ahead doing an air-guitar. Surprisingly, Don joined the fun as well for the sake of it. The RR participants smiled at this spectacle, some even cheering along.

The feeling was different for the Veterans however. The air around them was thick with envy at the Racers having a host this compassionate, one that actually considers his contestants as _human beings_ as opposed to valuable props _._ Instead, they have Chris – whose mind is a foul clockwork of sadism and egoism.

"I know nothing of this Don guy. But the more i watch him get along with these folks, the more I kinda wished that he's our host from the beginning." Leshawna remarked, clearly jealous at how they got a compassionate host.

Noah couldn't help but nod. "Absolutely seconding that. This guy will treat you as a human being and not some animated prop to dispose after outliving your usefulness." With that, he threw a dirty glance at the silent Chris Mclean as murmurs of agreement broke out among them. The Host with the Most furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance at the positive sentiments directed Don, not even noticing Noah's amused stare.

Chris grumbled as he even heard Chef mumble something positive about Don, something about a higher pay-grade.

"It must be awesome to be in a band dudes. What do you guys play?" Geoff was the first to greet Chet and Lorenzo, having competed with them in the Race.

"Chet does drums while I do guitar." Lorenzo explained, followed by Chet doing an air-drum and onomatopoeic percussions synchronised to each beat. The Devil Frogs moved on and approached Harold and Trent.

"You're Harold and Trent of the Drama Brothers. I can't believe the day will come where we'll actually our idols, it's an honour to compete with you guys." Chet said in amazement at meeting their idols.

From above, Trent gave a flattered smile along with Harold. "The honour is all ours."

"Your songs are really good. In fact, The Drama Brothers inspired the formation of the Devil Frogs." Spud explained, immersed under the same feeling of awe and admiration at meeting the famous boy band. Different the musical genres may be, but the music is all that matters.

"Anyway, where's Justin and Cody? Aren't they supposed to be with you."

"They still haven't arrived yet for some reason, but we can assure you that they're competing." Harold informed regarding the absence of half of the Drama Brothers.

"Well that's a bummer… Can we at least get your autographs?" Although mildly disappointed over how they only get to meet half of the Drama Brothers, they brought out copies of their albums forward. The Shadows of Elvis Presley and Napoleon Dynamite brought out their ballpoint pens in return

Chris allowed the autographing to be finished before calling Don, his mood still sour at his contestants' patronage to the RR host and it influenced his words. "Would your people hurry up, I still have many things to introduce for this season, and it's only a matter of time before it gets dark!"

For reasons defying logic and weather, lightning flashed with thunder at its tail as two figures seemingly materialised in front of the assembly.

"We're next." The voice from one of the figures was monotone, devoid of emotion and life that is natural whenever someone is supposed to speak. Spooked, Chris let out a girly scream upon seeing their terrifying appearance and leapt into the arms of a startled Chef. The others would've been snickering if they didn't have the same reaction.

Undaunted like most of his contestants, Don let out a short laugh after seeing his reaction. "These are Ennui and Crimson - the Goths. And yes, they never stop doing s **/bleep/** t like that." He said, having gotten completely used to them.

Duncan sniffed something afoul in the air and turned to Chris. "Did you just piss yourself man?"

"No! It was… Chef!" Chris tried to hide his embarrassment, by putting the blame on his large assistant as an arm unseen slithered into the pocket with cash in its hands. Chef merely rolled his eyes but didn't complain nonetheless in this act of bribery. While the antic is annoying, he could at least appreciate the tip for his services.

The feeling of fear was universal among most contestants, some felt only twinges and goosebumps at the extreme mien of this gothic pair whereas those more weak-willed were shivering at the sight of their appearance. The only exception to this was those who competed on the Ridonculous Race, Gwen, and Duncan.

"You don't look like any other goths we've seen before." The Delinquent-turned-Felon ask in a calm posture antithetical to most of the cast. His relationship with Gwen exposed him to the domain of gothic subculture, allowing him to approach those similar with relative ease, even in the other parts of the spectrum. "Pasty looks like a cheerleader compared to you guys." He jabbed a thumb to his ex-girlfriend. The first generation's resident Goth wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but she decided to let it slide for the moment.

"We're hardcore goths. You've only gotten used to softcores like Gwen." Ennui explained himself and Crimson to those unfamiliar with them.

"That's true. By the way, I like your contacts Ennui. Do you know where I could some like them?" Gwen complimented them with a smile, clearly impressed with their Gothic style. Extreme may it be, but it's still in-line with the gothic fashion.

"It's the place for any gothware if you were wondering."

Heather momentarily regained her composure and snorted with a faux courage. "Great, just what we needed. More gross gothiness to muck everything up."

Lightning flashed anew, and before their disbelieving eyes did Crimson disappear. They were startled and completely unnerved. When it died down, Heather felt this unnatural instinct gnawing her very soul, imploring her to turn to her side. Against her rationality, she obeyed and the instant she does...

Back then, Heather could tell that Crimson's not that tall from her vantage point, possibly around the height of either Gwen or Katie. But to see her standing on the seat beside her envisioned her as a towering mistress of darkness; her emotionless but menacing stare adding to the effect. Sure enough, the others took notice of her transition and were startled.

"What was that?" Came Crimson's monotonous question even as the Queen Bee screamed in terror, scampering back away with her hands and feet just to widen the gap between her and the hardcore goth. "I didn't hear you."

Heather's terrified screamed was brief, but her immortal soul was expelled from her body. Her skin was some shades lighter because of the fright as goosebumps arose throughout her nigh pasty skin.

"Huh, as I've expected." Without another word, Crimson walked down the aisle and sat beside Ennui, whom everyone didn't notice sitting with the third-gen and some people away from the Ice Dancers. The situation became uncomfortable for those between, remembering the animosity between the two teams. Jacques and Josee glared but the Goths didn't return the favour. Instead, Loki popped out of Ennui's shirt and growled, baring his teeth menacingly and they reeled back in fear; the black rabbit not having forgiven them for his masters' elimination.

On the other hand, a shivering Heather was lying in a fetal position, too traumatised to even react to Gwen and Leshawna doubling over in laughter.

"I have to ask for a clip of this." Gwen laughed once again.

"Seems like the Goths made a strong impression." Don said to the camera, amused at the turn of events. "Now then, while we get Chris and Heather a nice change of undergarments and some psychiatric sessions, let's welcome two halves of two teams from the Ridonculous Race." The next boat finally boarded and the passengers stepped into the light.

"Brody of the Surfer Dudes and Dwayne Junior of the Father and Son, welcome to Eden Island." Don greeted the two new arrivals. "You boys ready to start this party?"

"Is that even a question Don-brah? I'm totally hyped for this contest, especially I'm getting to compete with my buddy Geoff over there!" Brody pointed towards his friend on the bleachers.

"Alright!" Geoff cheered in response.

Don levelled his gaze into the petite form of Junior. "Junior. In the Race, you competed alongside your father for the purposes of bonding. It succeeded and you left in good terms. But now, you're here in a new season standing on your own feet for the first time. How do you feel?"

Despite the small twinges of anxiety wracking his heart, Junior fixed a confident smile. "A little nervous, that's how. But I'm fired up for the competition."

"Hold on a minute!" Gwen called out from the bleachers, her black eyes scrutinizing every inch of the petite form of the new arrival, who resembled more like Cameron in terms of physical stature. "How old are you? You look just like Cameron, but I can tell from your voice that you sounded younger."

"I'm thirteen." Junior admitted nonchalantly and watched as the astonishment that followed. He was unsurprised, having anticipated such kind of reaction due to most of them being in their early adult years. He felt Don's hand on his shoulder as he addressed the Assembly.

"Yep, that makes this little boy here the youngest competitor of Total Drama." Junior wasn't sure if Don was relishing their surprise or not. Not like he cares about it. Instead, he cared about being referred to a pre-pubescent person.

So he looked at him with a frown. "I'd prefer to be called a _man_ , Don. I may just be thirteen, but that makes me one now."

Don didn't bother to look at him as Gwen spoke once more. "Yeah, but there's an age limit you know. Ages sixteen and above are the only ones eligible to compete in Total Drama."

It was true. One of the stipulations in the contract was that the participant must be sixteen years of age or more in order to enter the competition.

"Yes, the rule stands… but understand that it only applies to Total Drama seasons _under_ Chris Mclean." Don turned to Junior with a smirk. "But since this little boy competed in the Race..."

"Man!" Junior cried in annoyance.

"You bypassed a loophole." Courtney concluded. Don had to bit back his annoyance after being interrupted once again. Seriously, this has quickly evolved into a routine and he had to ask Chris if he even enforces discipline on his contestants. But given his personality, that's highly doubtful not due to negligence, but his casual disregard for their welfare would be an incentive for this behaviour.

He'd kept his face in its happy expression all the time. "Correctomundo!" Without further ado, Don gestured the two recent arrivals to go to the awaiting bleachers as he saw the next boat from afar.

"So, this is the famed island by that super rich guy – Eden Island." Junior observed. The vegetation was omnipresent and dense to the point of shrouding the entire island from the view of the arrivals. "I wonder what makes this place so special, the view is pretty much generic if you ask me."

"None of us have any idea as well youngblood." Leshawna explained along with an appropriate sobriquet for the new arrival. "Chris wouldn't spill the beans until all of us are here." the sassy sister threw an annoyed glance at the impassive form of Chris Mclean.

"Just trust me. It'll be worth the wait."

"I guess we'll see." Junior shrugged before sitting alongside Brody, who sat beside the Police Cadets in the spot bordering between the first-gen and third-gen.

Seconds later, the 54th boat boarded and three contestants disembarked into the dock.

"At long last, the last of our Racers have arrived. Please give a warm welcome to Tammy, accompanied by the Sisters – Emma and Kitty." Don introduced the final batch of RR contestants, who were all girls. Needless to say the stout girl's valkyrie outfit had raised more than a few eyebrows that spoke parallels with their resident wizard, and they stared at him to gauge a reaction.

Leonard was waving to his fellow LARPER smiling along with the ever friendly Owen. Tammy returned the favour. Sugar raised an eyebrow that bespoke of naked curiosity over the relationship between the great magician and this new girl. "Mr. Wizard, who is that gal?"

Leonard looked at her, the friendly smile still on his face. "Oh that's Tammy, she's one of my friends and my partner in the Ridonculous Race." Leonard explained. "Anyway, Tammy did you bring with you my new spellbook?! I forgot to put them in my luggage!"

"I sure did!" Tammy raised the aforementioned book enthusiastically. "You should prepare your stuff next time though."

"Thanks." Leonard said. Beside him, Sugar leered suspiciously at the viking-dressed short girl. Tammy pulled out her ocarina and began playing an unknown tone.

"Umm… what's she doing?" DJ asked.

Tammy finished musical articulation and leered at the contestants. "I'm casting a spell to curse you in the competition, so me and Leonard can TRIUMPH!."

A heavy silence followed as everyone raised their eyebrows. Apparently, they now understand why this Racer reminded them of their resident wizard - they were cut from the same cloth. At this point Tammy strolled forward to her seat in the third-gen, leaving the Sisters to take the spotlight.

"Wow, Eden looks way cooler than I imagined! I can't believe we're playing Total Drama with everyone!" Kitty excitedly looked around before pulling Emma in and snapping a picture.

Gently pushing off her younger sister, Emma sternly told her. "Yeah, I know you're excited. But this time around we're going to make it all the way. So we can't afford any distrac-" The law student's speech trailed off when she saw someone in the audience, who smiled at her. "-tions."

"And here we go." Kitty deviously grinned as her sister began pacing forward, knowing full well who her older sister was staring at.

"Looks like we'll be playing with the girls again. Good news, eh Noah?" Owen tried to tease his best friend, only to find him gone. "Noah?"

"He already went down." Sierra pointed this out to Owen, being the only non-race contestant to know of Emma and Noah's relationship. Needless to say, it took her all her willpower to not squeal in delight or even grin ear-to-ear lest it'll spoil the surprise.

Others were confused however.

"Huh? Why's he walking towards a girl from this Ridonculous Race?" Bridgette asked, intrigued seeing their Indian compatriot close distance with an Asian woman.

Meeting on the middle of the dock, Emma smirked as she assessed her boyfriend. "Don't think I'm going to hold back just because you're cute Noah. You have played this show more than once after all." Her voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone. Whether this is intentional or not is irrelevant in the mind of the Smart Alec as he decided to follow suit.

Noah smirked in return. "Indeed I have! And speaking of which, there's some business I have to settle concerning a rumour." He walked beside Emma and faced everyone. "I'm sure most of you still buy into the idea that I'm gay."

"Yeah, that's because you are Egghead." Duncan brushed the Bookworm off, not really caring what he had to say. "You kissing Cody and having no girlfriends proves that you're a queer."

Some roared into boisterous laughter at such demeaning insult. But Noah let it slid down his proverbially oily skin as he stared into the eyes of Emma with a knowing smile, a gesture that bespoke of his intentions. Emma - reading her boyfriend's body language quite clearly - understood and returned the favour. The laughter began dying down as people started noticing their strange behaviour. It was when the Smart Alec made his move, and the myth of his homosexuality perished.

"Nope." His lips gently met Emma's, who accepted it without protest nor resistance. It transitioned into a french kiss with an intensity putting Geoff and Bridgette's to shame. The Racers were astonished that the couple went this far but responded with smiles and swoons nonetheless. The Veterans however...

"Y-YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!" Chris exclaimed as he and the others gaped in shock at this revelation. The shock was even enough to snap Heather out of her terrorised stupor.

"Wow, I never saw this one coming." Gwen muttered with her own wide eyes. The sight was euphoric for Sierra, who finally opened the floodgates holding back her excitement for the couple and unintentionally startling those in proximity with her high-pitched cry.

"Aren't they cute together?!" She remarked with her voice trailing in a swoon. Her happiness for Noah stemming from two halves; one for finally achieving a romantic relationship with the opposite, given his supposed homosexual orientation prevalent among the TD Community following the airing of TDI's third episode. Internally, she groaned upon remembering that particular scene with Noah and Cody. Therefore, it's a relief that Emma came into the picture to help bring an end to that abominable shipping.

Secondly, the confirmation of Noah's true sexuality removed him as a romantic contender to Cody. Not that she believed that there's a genuine attraction between them, of course she and pretty much the entire cast are well aware of Cody's obvious sexuality. Heck, some people even pair Noah with Izzy or even Eva. It's rather due to the massive cult following NoCo had accumulated over the years. There were already stories circulating in Fanfiction, ranging from innocent romance fics to full-blown lemons. She'd been engaging in a crusade against this blasphemy in the form of flames and harsh criticisms that unfortunately led people to believe that she's homophobic.

Following this allegation, her account has been suspended numerous times.

"Hold on. Sierra, you knew?" The Uber Fan's mind snapped back to reality by Gwen's innocent question.

"Of course, I'm the blogger of Total Drama right?" At first, Sierra looked innocent. But the moment she brought her face close to Gwen's did she changed in an expression befitting a lunatic; a pair of manic eyes with an equally manic grin. "I. Know. _ev-ery-thing_." It was followed by a twisted mockery of a giggle that was more than enough for her to back away, too unsettling for her to just ignore as a part of the usual Sierra weirdness. Why Is she acting like this?

Possibly, because of her six-month Cody-deprivation. Loath to say it but she really needs to have the Geek here this instant.

"Yay, Noah's not a virgin anymore!" Izzy raised her arms in a cheer. This wasn't appreciated by the cross-generational couple; Emma blushed while her boyfriend looked unamused.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha, very funny Izzy." Noah deadpanned. Though a jest, it seemed like the proclamation had garnered the interest of not only his fellow Veterans, but also the Racers.

"But… you're still one right? Did you guys-" Being the one with perhaps in the most intimate relationship, Bridgette tried to inquire but was immediately cut-off by an annoyed groan from the Schemer.

"Must you be everyone be so nosy? Of course not, we haven't done anything intimate yet in our relationship." Noah looked at his girlfriend with a small smile on his face...

One that allowed Emma mustered a bit of courage to speak. "And to be honest, we're still in the early stages to even do that."

Sierra nodded. "I have to agree guys. Even If they did start to get more than smoochy-smoochy, I can guarantee you that I'll be the first one to know."

Emma recoiled from the level of Sierra's bizarreness and gazed at her boyfriend in search for answer. "Is she always like this? She asked, concerned.

"You'll get used to it."

The couple walked forward with Kitty in tow towards the first-gen, Noah relinquished his original spot to sit beside Emma.

As the scene ended, Don turned to the camera. "Now that all contestants of the Ridonculous Race have arrived, let's go back to Chris as he introduces the remaining Veterans."

On cue, Don marched forward to take his seat alongside his contestants. Chris stood from his seat and walked down the aisle, having nudged Chef to accompany him. Time was running out so he stayed near the bleachers, sparing himself from walking all the way to the dock to greet the arrivals the moment they appear. They would have to come to him. Don passed them and sat alongside his contestants, besides Noah specifically.

"I gotta say, you did a good job out there Don."

"Thanks. Though the Goths' entry is my favourite, along with the Sisters' because of you." Noah chuckled at the reference earlier. It irked Chris to no end at the Bookworm's blatant display of betrayal.

"Thank you Don." Chris began as he tried to suppress the irritation. "With the Racers all here, let's continue the roll-call with the six remaining first-gen." Chris said as the next boat came to view from afar.

"You told us earlier that you arranged them to arrive much later than ours. In fact, it was long enough for the people from the Ridonculous Race to arrive. But the question remains as to why would you do that?" Bridgette asked in curiosity. Everyone latched on to this question with interest. After all, you don't delay someone unless you have a good reason for it.

Chris smiled. "Good question. The reason is that I'm pretty sure that they would invoke strong reactions from you guys, but the three would, without a doubt, surprise you all."

"Strong reactions? Then why me and Dave are already here? You've seen clearly how everyone reacted." Scarlett inquired before everyone noticed that Dave has just reawakened from Stephanie's beatdown. The scarred contestant spent a moment examining the new faces that he missed during his blackout while avoiding the gaze of the black contestants. Likewise, Stacy had awakened as well and doing the same.

"Never came to my mind… Sorry." Chris replied nonchalantly, causing Scarlett to roll her eyes. "All I can think of is the first-gen since they've been out for a loooong time...save for those in All-Stars though."

"This must be what you meant earlier this episode." Noah remarked as he digested what the Host said about the latecomers, recalling what the Host said earlier to explain the absence of some contestants from the first-gen. Truth to be told, it wasn't that much climactic as he expected it to be since they already know their missing batchmates.

Emma looked at him, oblivious to whatever he's referring to. "Umm… what do you mean Noah?" Soon enough, the other Racers diverted their attention to Noah with the second and third-gen behind them, having the same look of curiosity on their faces. Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but Noah took the spotlight since he was the one who started the subject.

"Earlier this episode – when it was just us first generation – Chris explained that the reason some of us aren't here yet is because of something _special_... _._ " the Bookworm halted, making quotation mark gestures. "... about them."

"So Chris delayed six of you guys just because of what, audience feedback?" Mike wondered out loud as he stared at Chris.

"Nope, you got it completely wrong." Chris affirmed and shot down Noah's assumption, much to his dismay. "I did say that some contestants coming late for something special, but it's only for half of them."

Half? The first-gen are missing six contestants who are all due to arrive, and whatever surprise Chris is speaking applies only to three of them.

"My Codykins is one of them right? Right?!" Sierra asked, getting more uneasy from her seat. Her tone bordering between desperation and impatience to see her dearly beloved once again, missing not only his words but the very fibre of his body as well and craving to feel the very warmth of his flesh in her arms. Though, the Cast wasn't sure what she's referring to by _them_ **.** It's either the special or non-special half.

Maybe they'll just have to see.

Chris sighed. "Yes he will, I just said that the latecomers are coming now."

The 55th boat arrived and disembarking is without a doubt the embodiment of flawless masculinity. "Let's give it up for resident eye-candy - Justin!"

As expected whenever Justin makes his presence known, the most of the womanhood of the cast are gushing over him; even those with romantically involved. The guys were divided overall; those smirking in amusement which was mostly the first-gen. The rest were divided between whistling in awe or looking envious.

"Wooow… he's sooo _hot_!" Stephanie said, completely enamoured by the Hawaiian Adonis before them and not minding her boyfriend beside her.

Owen chimed in, being the only male to fawn over Justin. "I know right? I've always dreamed of _sampling_ those ripped muscles." he mumbled, but it was loud enough for Stephanie to give him an incredulous look.

Justin flashed the crowd a smile as Chris observed the spectacle. "The Charm is still there, eh?"

Just like everyone's reactions, Chris' remark was flattering. As a handsome person, he was used to people being captivated by his looks alone. Even the beasts of nature, creatures God created to be subjects and companions of Man, would submit in the same manner. Because of this, Chris started to call this innate ability of his as the Charm during behind-the-scenes, and soon the name got stuck.

"Yeah, it never goes away." Justin walked forward and sat beside his fellow Drama Brothers. Below in the Racers' rows, the Devil Frogs presented their albums - the same albums that were autographed by Trent and Harold - to the recently arrived band member. Voicing the reason was unnecessary as Justin calmly grabbed and signed each copy.

"I think that's the reason why Chris delayed Justin, he wants to see the girls' reactions." Noah remarked.

"Next up in our latecomers, the Latin Liar and Arch Villain of Total Drama World Tour, Alejandro Burromuerto!" Chris announced the arrival of the Spaniard, while Don held in an instance of laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Doesn't his name translate to 'dead donkey' in Spanish?" Don said while snickering. Given that most of them have little to no understanding in the said language, some of the contestants couldn't suppress their chuckling upon discovering the full meaning of the Spanish Serpent's familial name.

"Real mature." Alejandro glared at those laughing as he stepped off the boat, before greeting his competition with artificial politeness radiating off of him. "Why, buenos tardes my old and new friends. It's wonderful to see you all again, and I do hope your inevitable defeat by me won't sting too much."

"Great, this loser again." Scott glared down his teammate from All Stars. This was a sentiment shared by many contestants from both the first and second generations, most notably those who fell victim to his schemes in World Tour such as DJ, Bridgette, Leshawna, and Noah, as well as his on and off again girlfriend Heather.

However, contestants from the third-gen and the Ridonculous Race seemed to have a more neutral reaction to the Arch Villain, with only a small handful of both casts having actually seen most Total Drama seasons. In a similar case with Justin, the person's graceful features were enough to beguile most of their womenfolk. But unlike with the Eye Candy, the scope wasn't universal since the rest were already aware of his true nature.

Being in close proximity, Junior was somehow deemed as the logical choice by an equally confused Leonard. "Who is this apparently black-hearted knave with the elven haircut and 3+ defence boots?" he whispered into his ear.

Junior played enough fantasy games to comprehend the sort of vocabulary used by the LARPer. "Beats me. My parents didn't let me watch World Tour." He said out loud. That comment earned him some weird looks. "It was my Mom's least favourite season!"

"I can see why." Leshawna said through gritted teeth as she glared down Alejandro.

"Now Leshawna, you aren't still mad about your unfortunate elimination all that time ago are you? If you think about it, you're really the ones at fault for falling for my choice words aren't you." Alejandro smugly said to Leshawna. Even with her injuries from her fight with Dave now numb, Leshawna would've lunged at him if she wasn't held back by both Gwen and Harold.

"No, my queen; we'll have our time to get revenge soon enough." Harold said in an attempted samurai dialect, which came out as more awkward than anything.

"As much as I hate to admit it, that Dweeb is right about something." Having recovered from her ordeal with the Goths, Heather brought Alejandro's attention over to her. Her eyebrows furrowed in disdain. "Your little fake nice guy gameplay won't fool anyone this time around. You won't last three rounds this time around _Al_."

"Believe me, I have made heavy adjustments to my gameplay for this particular season. Especially for a particular I hadn't considered last time." Alejandro said while leering at Mike from the bleachers, still bitter at Mal causing his elimination back in the heavily panned fifth season. "I won't be outwitted again."

From his seat, Mike could do nothing but sheepishly chuckle at the sort of look Alejandro was giving him. Zoey didn't like this and retaliated with an intense leer of her own, presenting herself as a bulwark of Mike against another member of the Anti-Mike bloc – Mal's lasting legacy and contingency should his inevitable defeat ever came.

"Just keep telling yourself that... _Al_." Bridgette taunted the Latin from her position on the bleachers, and savoured the look of irritation in the Spaniard's twitching eye.

Losing composure and all sense of civility, Alejandro growled at them with balled fists. "Don't. Call. Me. AL!"

Owen observed how the Arch Villain seemed to detest his nickname so much. So – in an act of friendliness – he came up with something _better_. "Sure thing... Al Dente." _**[10]**_ Though intended as a friendly jest, the Assembly misinterpreted this as a new insult and roared in rambunctious laughter with the loudest coming from the likes of Leshawna, Bridgette and Heather and the other victims of the Spaniard's seductions. From his spot, the new epitaph alone sent shivers all over Alejandro. That nickname was far, far worse compared to its predecessor and given the choice, he'd prefer to be called by the detestable Al over Al Dente since it's far more disturbing.

It was certain the José's watching his participation from their home along with his other siblings just like in World Tour, and there was no doubt that he'd quickly make use of this new name.

"Now that's even better, an Italian serving." Don hollered laughing his guts out.

Alejandro narrowed his eyes at the perpetrator of his humiliation – Owen. The Big Oaf was too preoccupied laughing to even notice the fire in his eyes. He'd make sure that jovial fat bastard would pay for this.

Seething internally, he marched towards the third-gen – a logical choice given that the first-gen and second-gen would be less welcoming of his presence. The third-gen and these Racers on the other hand, barely knew him from their confused expressions. He smiled, they were untapped resources for him to manipulate and do his bidding.

The laughter died down soon after. "So… who's next?" Bridgette asked, not knowing the smile still on her face.

On cue, the 57th boat docked and she got her answer.

Bridgette felt her mood overturn instantly upon recognising the new arrival, disdain materialising in her face instead. "Oh… _her_." People would argue whether it was a hiss or growl, but it's irrelevant as they can understand the sentiment it carried. Geoff matched her along with a certain number of first-gen, though Owen seemed to be the only one happy.

Chris was wearing a snide look and a smirk. "Now let's give a warm welcome to _Mildred_ everyone." He introduced, making use of the arrival's true name and emphasising it for all to hear. Of course, it wasn't well received by her.

"IT'S BLAINELEY!" She proclaimed with a glare towards the Host with the Most, having preferred her own stage name in place of the one given to her at birth. "My name... IS BLAINELEY!" Blaineley walked forward, not bothering to throw another glance at the man who took what was meant to be hers.

Chris was unmoved by the entire ordeal and gave her the liberty of walking peacefully. He decided to spare himself from giving a formal welcome to the Diva, who's more of a sycophantic nuisance than a contestant in his eyes just like Topher.

Jen leaned down towards Ellody. "Isn't she that the mean hostess in the Aftermath episodes, who became a competitor in World Tour by accident?" she whispered, having watched the Show prior to her participation in the Ridonculous Race.

"Precisely. Not only that but originally, she's also the intended host of the Total Drama series." Ellody replied, having been one of the few Racers to have prior knowledge of Total Drama before her participation in the spin-off as well.

Jen was surprised. "Really?! What happened then?" She asked, so shocked was she that she forgot to dampen her voice into a whisper and the question was said out loud instead…

Loud enough for the Aftermath Diva to hear.

"Because I turned it down!" Both girls flinched and saw that Blaineley stopped a few meters away from the bleachers, feeling uneasy at receiving the full brunt of the Diva's leer. "The first time the Producers gave me the offer, I thought Total Drama would be just an unpopular one-shot season about a bunch brats stuck on an island. So I rejected their offer to spare myself of the time and effort. I've got better things to do back then anyway… or so I thought."

Chris snickered. "Big mistake in judging a book by its cover. But I have to thank you though, your decision made me who I am right now – one of the most famous individuals living on the planet!" Chris boasted, spanning his arms sidewards in an apparent gesture of power as if his prestige elevated him to godhood. Naked pride oozing from every fibre of his mortal body, which was too rancid for Blaineley to ignore.

"Gloat however you want _Mclean_." she hissed. The venom she laced with his name was enough to make some contestants shiver. "I may have lost the fame of being Host to you Chris, but winning the Prize will compensate for that."

"And just how would winning the Contest make you that famous?" Heather asked, having first-hand experience on popularity following her triumph against Alejandro even though she lost the Prize. "I mean, you do get your share of fame with a million dollars. But that isn't much."

Blaineley chuckled. "Because you don't know everything honey." she said. "Thanks to our newest benefactor, the Show had enough budget to elevate the sum of the Prize to heights worth killing for."

The news fascinated the Cast. The prize money elevated from their usual million dollar sum? One can only imagine the implications it would have on the contest and contestant performance. But the question is to what heights? Is it now in double or triple digits? They would never know for the time being.

On the other hand, Chris was shocked. But if one would look at either Chef or Don, their faces were impassive to the news, as if the revelation itself was just the passing of the wind instead of the strike of concrete.

"What the- how did you know about this?" He demanded immediately. As far as he can recall, the only individuals aware of this information are him, Chef, Don, the Producers and the senior members of the Show. So it begs the question of how did the leak came to be?

"Simple. I asked the producers." Of course, how could he forget? Despite her status as a contestant, Blaineley is still a senior member of the show just like him, Chef and Don, with the clearance to know of this information. It now explains why the two were unsurprised unlike him.

Satisfied with her meagre victory, Blaineley sat down with the third-gen. The areas in front of the first and second-gen are already getting crowded due to the simple fact that none had the desire to sit with the second-gen, even though the bleachers and contestants were already dried by the warm radiation of the sun.

"OKAY." Chris continued, reasserting his poise from the shock. "Moving along, that was about half of the late coming first-gen. Now let's welcome the special half, I'm sure you're wondering why we've held off the returns of three specific contestants till now, correct?"

"Not really." Katie rolled her eyes with a frown. Now the first-gen wondered once more what drove a wedge in their unbreakable bond, one that was forged since birth. It was intriguing to no end, even the likes of Heather and Eva gravitating to this. The strong friendship between Sadie and Katie was palpable ever since they stepped foot in Wawanakwa years ago, the thought of a rift developing – one strong enough to actually shatter the said bond – was almost impossible.

Until now it seemed.

Sierra was having none of it though, as her mind is focused only on a particular person. "WHERE'S MY CODYKINS?!"

Chris frowned but chose to ignore the rambling fangirl and went ahead. "We've held them off because out of all of our contestants, these three have gone over **major physical changes!** You may not even recognize these guys nowadays."

Predictably, It seized the Cast by surprise; eyes widened and mouths fell open as air rushed inward. The only ones impassive were Chris, Chef, Don and Blaineley given their foreknowledge as members of the Show; so they took the liberty of savouring their reactions.

"No way!" Katie exclaimed in shock.

"Are you serious?" Duncan asked the Host with equal surprise.

Chris smirked. "As a heart attack Duncan, as a heart attack."

In response to this, Lindsay immediately began squealing with excitement. "I can't wait to see how Beth looks now!"

Heather scoffed. "Please, as if that tiny little dope could ever look even remotely attractive."

"For once we agree on something." Courtney conceded with her fellow Amazon, remembering the last time she participated with Beth in TDA. "Perhaps she gained a few more pounds." Both Amazons snickered at that thought while receiving a glare from Gwen and Leshawna. Even though it was a guess, it would still be entertaining to see her as a pudgier contestant.

Out of the sudden, Sierra lounged into Chris. "But what about Cody? Is he okay? Did he break his bone or lose a hand?" She began shaking Chris in a manner befitting a ragdoll and not a Human being.

The Host barely sustained his own balance from her action, and forcefully shoved the fangirl off. "Chill Fanzilla, the Codemeister's in perfect physical condition." With that, Sierra stormed back to the bleachers with a suspicious look. Upon seeing he was being given a dirty look from Chef, Chris whispered to make sure he couldn't be heard. "Relax, I said physical condition. No one has to know about that _incident_." That served to pacify the retired military man as both redirected their attention to the approaching watercraft.

"Since they've changed, I see it fit to give them new labels as well. For the first of our changed contestants, let's give a warm welcome for Beth – The Aspirant!" Chris said as everyone watched the 58th boat approach.

Soon, someone disembarked the boat and waved at the cast with friendly vigour. Silence reigned for a moment until gasps rang around the bleachers. None of them couldn't believe that Chris was indeed telling the truth. They knew Beth as the farm girl with a pudgy figure and a sweet personality, but standing here is a girl with a slim figure, wearing her complete apparel including the trademark glasses. As much as they want to reject the truth, there's no denying that this is the person they knew.

"No way!" Heather and Courtney gawked with disbelieving eyes.

"Is that really Beth?" Duncan said, the surprise temporarily overpowering his drowsiness.

Savouring their reactions at the great transformation of the contestant was the Host with the Most. "The one and only."

"Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I've competed." Those were her first words, her teeth still sparkling white, well-ordered, and braces-free. Despite having apparently matured into a young woman, her infantile manner of speaking still persisted.

Lindsay ran forward and embraced her friend. The Cast observed how Beth had grown a bit the last time they saw her, her height is now at the eye-level of Lindsay.

"Wow Bertha, you look so different!" Lindsay said, amazed by her friend's transformation just like everyone else.

"Thanks Lindsay." Beth replied. Both friends walked towards the bleachers.

"Seeing you like that was really a shock, Sugar. what made you work out?" Leshawna asked.

"I became interested in athletics recently. It was difficult at first since I have to be dedicated in my workout, I was about to give up until Brady helped me out. I wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for him." Beth explained, speaking gratefully about her boyfriend.

Knowing that the day's clock is ticking and he has a lot of work to do before the day's end, Chris quickly interjected before anyone can pose another question. "OKAY, we're about to be finished anyway so can you just stand beside me and Chef? Your new look definitely an eye-catcher." The proposition was met with indifference but understanding by the cast, an ostentatious display of her and the other two like a batch of pristine trophies as if he'd a hand in their transformation.

"Sure why not?" Beth agreed less than a second later. Why not? She'd been sitting in the dock for an indefinite amount of time anyway. Beth nodded to Lindsay and she returned to her seat.

Chris was grinning ear-to-ear at the astonished cast. "Shocking wasn't it? Well prepared to get even more shocked since coming now is Sadie – the Fitness Chick!"

"Chick? Fitness? Are you telling us that-." Bridgette would've continued had the aforementioned girl not stepped into the light.

Katie found herself surprised, but quickly hid it in a glare. She hadn't been in touch with Sadie for many months, no longer seeing the point after their break up. This even went as far as unfriending her in all her social media accounts, something her former friend had in mind as well. It came as a surprise to their parents about the new status of their relationship, which was now exuding empty coldness instead of the palpable warmth that bound them together in a monist state.

Which is why Sadie's new look was astounding for her.

Much like Beth before her, Sadie shed a considerable portion of weight in favour of a slender physique. But unlike Beth, she no longer retained her original clothing – having discarded it since their friendship became null. In its place is a new outfit that exaggerated her now svelte figure; a black sports bra emblazoned with the nike symbol along with matching sweatpants and running shoes with white laces

Quite befitting for her new label.

There was also another thing different about Sadie. She once had this childish character that she shared with Katie. Now, she stood uptight with an air of coolness and a confident smile in her face. Her eyes were placid, but one can see the blazing determination within those black orbs.

Sure enough, everyone was gawking at her as she walked towards them. Looks of disbelief were replaced by looks of awe and desire at someone they never expected to become attractive. Some whistles came from the boys, those romantically involved were reprimanded by their girlfriends by slap and words.

Even Heather and Eva were speechless at the sight of the girl, but were highly impressed nonetheless; Eva for the newfound competitive determination in the girl; Heather for getting herself in shape, something the Queen Bee can relate to in the years before Total Drama.

"Whoa... Sadie?" Tyler muttered from his gaping mouth, one of the many across the cast.

Chris faced the cast and bobbed his head. "Yep. Amazing isn't it? She used to be overweight the last time we saw her. Now, she's back and looking drop-dead gorgeous."

"Not to mention looking quite fit, you can see her muscles." Eva pointed the muscle tones noticeable on Sadie's exposed skin, plain results of dedicated physical activity for an indefinite amount of time during her absence.

She reached Chris. "Welcome Sadie, looks like you' came _prepared_ for this season."

"Pretty much." She replied with a slight flush on her cheeks. Given her proximity to Beth, she looked slightly taller in comparison.

"Wow, you look so different now Sadie." Beth remarked before both of them embraced one another. Though her words applied to them both, she found it more applicable for Sadie given how her stance implied that she matured more than her in the span of six months. In fact despite her growth, Sadie remained taller than her, albeit roughly. A minor dismay but irrelevant nonetheless.

Sadie released her hug. "Thanks Beth. I should say the same to you. Chris wasn't kidding when he said you've changed as well."

"I appreciate that, I had Brady to encourage me. So what made you get fit?" Beth asked the now christened Fitness Chick. Sadie took a moment to gather her thoughts while everyone leaned in to listen.

"I started to become more considerate about my body figure and hired a fitness instructor to help me. I've been at it for some months, quite tiring but worth it in the end." She regarded her new figure with pride.

"Are you planning on doing athletics like Beth?" Bridgette inquired.

Sadie shook her head. "Not exactly. I've been fat for my entire life so i thought it was best for a change. It wasn't easy because I have to adapt my diet."

Katie snorted. "Oh please, if you think your new look will mend our friendship, you have another thing coming."

"And who says I want to become friends again? Let alone bringing myself to shape just to come back to you. If that was the case, I wouldn't have bothered." Sadie snarled. "All this...is for personal achievement. At least, I made progress while you stagnated as the woman-child you are. Did puberty just affect your body and not your head, or was it too thick to even mature?"

Ohs, damns and hisses rang out the dock from the stunned contestants and hosts, taken aback from the comment. It doesn't take a genius the likes of Noah, Cameron or Scarlett to know that that definitely stung.

Aghast, Katie immediately retaliated. "I can't believe I'm spending this season with you. If it wasn't for Chris' damned contracts I would've have already left this island."

"Oh trust me, the feeling is mutual." Sadie crossed her arms. "It's been months but I still can't stand that face of yours. Unlike me, you haven't matured even a bit like me; still the same Sweet Girl you are since birth. When do you ever plan to grow up?" She continued. Everyone was unsure whether this condescending attitude is part of the new Sadie or just to rile Katie, they sincerely hoped it was the latter since no one wants another Heather in this island, especially the first-gen. Still, It seemed successful given how Katie's scowl deepened, the acrimonic furnace in her eyes intensifying.

The now-christened Fitness Chick turned back, but gave a last momentary sidelong glance. "But no matter, I'll see you eliminated from the Contest… one way or another." Her words rang in the air for a few seconds, letting the Cast settle on digesting the implication of her oath.

"Man... that was intense. Now that Sadie's here, we only have to wait for one more contestant before we start."

Duncan groaned. "The Geek better hurry up, I really need to get some sleep." It seemed like prison hasn't dampened his dislike for the brown-haired pipsqueak. Thinking back it's been almost an eternity since he'd seen him compete in Total Drama, his latest season being World Tour.

He grimaced, remembering their rivalry due to his relationship with Gwen, whom the Geek's been crushing on since TDI's first episode. Their kiss wasn't well received by Cody and motivated him to stand up against him despite their asymmetric body figures.

A boat appeared on the horizon, carrying the final competitor to make his entrance. "That's Cody over there right? Right?! RIGHT!" Sierra cried out once again, looking more and more desperate as time marched onward without her precious in her sight or arms. "Why's he taking so long? Was it because he's hurt? I need to go back and see my precious!"

Unnerved at such abnormal behaviour, Don leaned towards Chris and Chef; mouthing words that both understood well.

"Yeah, she crazy." Chef muttered in a vain attempt to no be heard while Chris continued with his intro.

"He's still far away folks, but he's what would I call a 'hunk' that the ladies would get their claws on. Coming now is Cody – The Casanova!" He finished with a proud flair, emphasising the word 'hunk' and each syllable of the label.

But instead of being intrigued, Chris and Chef were stunned to hear the reaction of the cast.

Laughter.

Chris felt irritated. "What? I'm not lying this time! Why would I save him for last if it wasn't something big?"

"Oh yeah, this is really big! That annoying little pipsqueak has become big brawny man." Duncan briefly managed to get out through his laughter before he broke out in more laughter with the others.

"Like that little pipsqueak could be even remotely attractive to anyone with ovaries besides Fanzilla over here." Alejandro joined in, infuriating the purple haired fangirl sitting not far away from him.

"Excuse me!" Sierra growled in Alejandro's face, resulting in Heather having to separate them.

"Calm down Sierra. We don't need to draw anymore attention to our generation this early!"

"You're just jealous!" Sierra continued shouting at the Latin Serpent, who merely rolled his eyes.

"Of what? His inability to attract someone without erotomania? Some of us are actual casanovas mind you." Alejandro said smugly.

"No offence Sierra, but the whole thing does sound pretty ridiculous." Gwen said, notably trying to hold in her laughter.

"I mean, the little guy's pretty cool and all, but I wouldn't describe him as some sort of casanova." Trent followed up, which earned both him and Gwen glares from the obsessed fangirl.

"Well, you'll be eating those words when he shows up." Chris irritably folded his arms. "And speak of the devil!"

As the boat drew nearer, everyone could see more than meets the eye. Slashes and punctures decorated the hull of the ship, exposing the dark mechanical interior light was unable to reach. Some gashes appeared to be very deep, it was a miracle that the watercraft remained functional despite the sort of ordeal it went through. Still, it was comparably slower compared to the others they've seen; probably due to the engine and rotor taking damage.

All in all, it fueled the continued mockery of the arriving contestant. "Looks like our _casanova_ has arrived in his faulty chariot." Alejandro quipped, to the amusement of some.

"Hey Codemeister, what happened to the boat?" Chris called over the docking speedboat, perplexed at its current state.

Sure enough, someone jumped down the mangled transport and into the wooden surface of the dock. "Fang and his pals attacked us on the way here." He walked. "We've already made it this far to even go back, so I insisted the driver to continue to Eden and stop here for repairs." A brief explanation, satisfying enough for Chris.

Meanwhile, the Cast were dead silent. The jeering and tension in the air vanished as the **truth** is finally before them, stretching their faces in surprise once more. Not a single word was said… nor even a breath for a few seconds. While Beth and Sadie's changes were impressive, Cody's new appearance was tad unbelievable – unimaginable even!

"Oh… my god." Bridgette muttered in complete disbelief.

"No f **/bleep/** g way." Duncan followed, the surprise numbing his drowsiness.

"This is what shortstuff looks now?" Leshawna was both quizzical and shocked.

"Cody?" Trent and Sierra muttered together.

"And also..." Cody stopped before Chris. The Host was smiling, partly feeling smug at the Cast's reactions but ultimately because the man of the hour has finally arrived. "Please don't call me that. I may have the looks now, but I consider myself a ladies' man no more." His manner of speaking was also different from what they were accustomed to.

The Cast was so surprised by Cody's transformation that they just started delineating his overall appearance. That once fleshy bag of skin and bones have been stuffed with a musculature worthy of an olympian athlete – a harmony of speed and strength. His hair retained its original style, but noticeably shaggier and wider.

Surmounting that robust figure was a new layer of clothes: A white hoodie zipped halfway upwards, showing a white shirt with a blue V-neck beneath along with a dark set of jeans that looked newly bought and a pair of white sneakers with blue highlights.

"That can't be helped man. Considering how you look now, the ladies are seriously going to fawn over you." Beside Chris, Beth and Sadie were also amazed just like the rest of the cast. This was truly unexpected, more so than theirs.

Sadie whistled, admiring the firm musculature of the Cassanova. "Wow, looks like someone's building up some muscles."

Beth nodded. "You tell me, he looks completely different the last time we saw him."

As they continued to scrutinise the reshaped form of the boy named Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson, other generations made their thoughts vocalised.

Jo raised an eyebrow. "This is Cody?! That horndog pipsqueak known for chasing after goth ball?"

"A geek turning into an athlete, that's something I've never sha-expected in my entire sha-life." Lightning admitted. The idea of a technical-oriented nerd working out was plain mind-boggling for his jockish mentality. "I respect you brother."

Dakota nudged her boyfriend's hand. "Maybe you can learn something from him."

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know Dakota. I mean, PE isn't exactly my sort of thing to begin with; I get tired easily."

"Cody definitely looks like an athlete now. I wonder what prompted him to work out?" Sky wondered out loud.

"He probably prepared himself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. After all, you can't survive with just brains and no brawn, so you have to balance them out." Shawn blurted out.

"Or maybe he decided to change in order to find his princess." Ella said as she dreamed blissfully, swooning over the prince in front of them all. Both Zombie and Disney-nut earned weird looks from the entire Cast; a scowl in Sugar's case and a glare from Sierra.

"Okay, timeout!" Noah broke the cacophony around him. Standing, he spoke. "Chris are you sure this is even Cody and not some imposter you dressed up to look like him?"

Gwen joined Noah. "Another thing would be the looks. I know Cody since World Tour, and he's definitely not the type to go bodybuilding for any reason; willingly I might add. He's a geek down to the core, lacking any physical inclinations – and a full-time pervert I might add." That offhand comment summoned a groan from Cody.

"He's the original by a hundred percent! Why can't you people just believe me!"

"Because it's very hard to believe Mclean, this guy completely different from Cody just by seeing how he looks and talks." Gwen countered him.

That caught Chris' tongue. He never anticipated to deal with this scepticism, assured that the introduction of the final contestants would proceed smoothly without any obstruction… until now it seemed.

Luckily, Cody came to his aid. "Hey, it's really me guys. I've just trained under Chef for the past months, that explains my new look."

It sent a wave of understanding and shivers throughout the first-gen and those that watched TDI. They knew firsthand how gruelling it was to endure Chef Hatchet's training regime.

Chef nodded. "That's right, this maggot asked me to make a man out of him months ago. What i put him through makes what you maggots experienced back in Wawanakwa look more like an exercise for wussies!" He proclaimed, pride being at the work he'd done on the contestant. Of course, it wasn't easy transforming a frail body into a strong one so he had to make _radical_ adjustments; amping the training to considerable heights over time, which seemed dangerous even for him. An ordinary cadet might've collapsed under the sheer intensity, but sheer willpower allowed Cody to thrive in an otherwise unbearable environment.

Which is why he'd become his pride and joy, a praiseworthy only to him.

If the previous statement made them shiver, this one made them tremble on their seats. So much that even the rest of the contestants followed them.

"How could you even survive that?!" Duncan implored, amazed how the Geek alone survived such experience.

Cody shrugged his shoulders. "Determination, that's all."

"Cody!" Trent called at the behest of Harold and Justin. It still felt weird to see how different his friend looks now. "This training with Chef, is that why you've been dark for the past months?"

Cody nodded. "Chef forbids any electronics during training." He summed up, shooting a thumb to the stern-looking diving suit-dressed Chef Hatchet.

"Distractions - especially any of those techno-gizmos you maggots are so obsessed these days - are prohibited under the oversight of your Master Chief! DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"

"Yes Master Chief!" The Cast was startled as the first-gen – sans the auxiliaries known as Alejandro and Sierra – erupted in affirmation; a behaviour drilled into them since the Basic Straining challenge in TDI. Oddly, even Brick joined the chorus given his boot camp background.

At least, they uncovered why the former Geek was ghosting them – he's been eschewed from technology by Master Chief Chef Hatchet.

Oddly, Noah and Gwen hadn't reacted even a bit to all that they said and narrowed their eyes. "I'm still not buying it, you have to prove it to us. I've told Cody some private details about my life, so let's see if you can answer them." Noah challenged, unknowingly piquing the interest of Emma.

Gwen nodded. "Same here, only the real Geek could answer them."

Cody smirked in a display of confidence. _You'll regret this._

"Noah, you always bring a stack of playboy magazines whenever you compete and hide them in your backpack, and always share them with me if when there are no challenges. Gwen, you were once considering breast enhancement that you even entrusted me your new bra." Cody withdrew the aforementioned item from his pocket. It looked fit for Courtney, coloured in deep purple with a decor of mini-bats and mini-skulls.

A deep shade of crimson manifested on Gwen's face as everyone threw her a look, either incredulous or amused considering her personality as a goth. She felt every fibre of her being burned under the collective gaze of the Cast, it was like each of those gazes were the heat vision of Kryptonians that is unbearable to one's mortal body.

On the other hand, Noah had to endure the leer of his girlfriend. Emma wasn't amused about this sort of discovery on her boyfriend. "We're going to throw those away tonight, got it!?"

"Yes ma'am." Noah replied anxiously and uncomfortably. But at least he'd cleared this new arrival as the real deal.

With all settled down, Kitty approached Cody. "Can we take a selfie?"

The Cassanova fixed a grin, not for concupiscent intent but to amuse the Racer. "Sure." Both came to position, then a flash... and a crash. The picture would've been taken perfectly had a purple blur not tackled the pig-tailed Asian.

"Stay away from my Codykins!" Sierra was grasping both wrists.

"What the- calm down it was just a selfie!" Kitty defended herself, hoping to reason with an unknowingly unreasonable girl when in regards to romance. The grip forced her to release her camera and she was glad that It fell beside her head.

"I won't let you take him away from me, not after six months!" Sierra squeezed her wrists further, eliciting a cry from the Racer as her nails dug into her bare skin. It wasn't sharp enough like a blade to puncture and draw blood but the sensation was painful nonetheless. Kitty retaliated with her legs, kneeing and kicking her sides in an attempt free herself.

Concerned, Emma stood from her seat in order to come to her sister's aid. But Cody reached out an arm. "I got this." Cody assured the Mature Sister before he went over down the quarrelling girls. The Cast watched the scene intently, especially those that hurled jibes at the now-proven Casanova. Firm hands on waist, Cody hauled Sierra away from the downed girl with a strength deficient on his original body – proving that the new is far better than the original just like a new brand of a product.

"I appreciate you missing me Sierra, but that wasn't cool." He shook his head at the Fanzilla's aggression while Kitty escaped to her sister's side. Noah placed himself in front as a precautionary measure should Cody fail to restrain her.

"But Codykins, I haven't seen you for a long time!" Sierra defended herself, snatching any thought that would justify the course she'd taken. "And I'm not letting other hussies take you away from me now that you're not only back, but also _new_!"

Cody released Sierra and she turned to face him, his features relaxing a bit in understanding. "I miss you too Sierra, along with the rest of my friends. I really thought I'll never see any of you again." His tone softened as he regarded her then his friends in the bleachers. Chef noticed this look – it's one he'd seen many times since that day he went to his doorstep. The Cooker concluded long ago that Cody will never be the same due to whatever happened to him. The young lad bore scars in both his body and soul, rehabilitating him to his original state is a lost cause as he'd learned during the training.

Chris cleared his throat. "As much as I hate to break this tender moment, I have to ask Sierra to kindly return to the bleachers after making a scene. It's getting dark soon and I'd prefer that we're all done before that."

Cody gave Sierra a reassuring look and she returned to her place without another word. Cody returned to Chris' side, standing beside Beth and Sadie like those that have changed.

Duncan yawned. "OK, everyone's here Mclean. Let's wrap it up and go to our cabins, I could use that sleep now."

The Cast prepared their joints to move. "Actually..." Chris stopped them with an open hand. "We aren't done yet Duncan, we still have people to wait for."

A wave of confusion washed the Cast. Mental gears turned as they processed that statement with dubiety. Wasn't everyone already here? They looked around and scrutinised the concentrated mass of contestants sitting on this wooden monolith for anyone absent; there were none.

"What do you mean? Everyone's already here; us Vets along with those Racers of Don, so who else should we wait for?" Duncan feeling annoyed that the Host with the Most was stalling with a fallacious statement when all contestants are already here.

Chris said nothing, standing impassively at the annoyed gazes of both Racer and Veteran. However, even those not sharp-eyed could perceive the smirk on his face like he's waiting for them to come to a discovery.

Then it clicked. The lightning bolt of insight struck their minds and delivered a divine revelation by the Gods from above.

Like the Cast, Duncan wore the mask of disbelief. "Wait! Are you saying that-?"

"That's right! This season will not only feature the Veterans and Racers in one big competition, but joining them are **the next generation of 25 new contestants!** "

* * *

 **NOTES:**

 **[1] This is a reference to GoldEmblem's Total Drama Supreme where B debuted with robot enabling him to talk without actually speaking. But I opted for something more convenient (ie. Wristwatch)**

 **[2] I decided to have Mike retain his other personalities since, in my opinion, they're an integral part of his character. Unlike in Supreme, the others are aware of his condition.**

 **[3] Yet another reference to Supreme. Ella sang as she arrived on the island, which was well received by virtually everyone save for Sugar obviously. But GoldEmblem never detailed her song, so I gave it my own twist.**

 **[4] The names Amy and Sammy are obvious abbreviations of their real names.**

 **[5] Scarlett's new look is based on a Deviantart work by Galactic-Red-Beauty named MalxScarlett - Evil Chemistry. Be sure to check it out.**

 **[6] Let's just say the rejection from Sky, discovering that she has a boyfriend back home, being abandoned and nearly dying at Scuba Bear doesn't sit very well for Dave.**

 **[7] Emilie-Claire Barlow is the voice actress of Courtney and Ellody, so it's natural that they sound alike. She also voices Laurie, but is distinct from the other two.**

 **[8] It puzzled me to no end how come neither Noah, Owen, Geoff and Leonard notice the physical similarity between Chris and Pete.**

 **[9] Given their sporadic usage of French in the Ridonculous Race, the Ice Dancers clearly originated from Quebec, which is the sole francophone region in Canada. Their names and accents are enough to validate this.**

 **[10] This is a reference to AnonymousPoet's Total Drama Royale! Where Noah convinced Alejandro to tolerate Owen's constant calling of 'Al' lest he be called 'Al Dente', which was enough to make him shudder. In Italian cuisine, Al Dente is a type of pasta cooked to be firm to the bite.**

* * *

 **AN: That wraps up this chapter folks, I hope it was worth the wait.**

 **And yes, Don is hosting this season alongside Chris. I figured that the Racers would feel… alienated since they'll be bossed around by someone they lack familiarity with. Therefore, i decided to include Don to put them at ease.**

 **Don certainly left an impression on the Veterans for being an antithesis to Chris Mclean. While a vain narcissist, he showed himself as a compassionate person which the Veterans envy so much.**

 **Rewrites are abound to some OC sections in the previous chapters, either because there were changes in their character or just because I want to improve their scene.**

 **Next chapter will conclude this introductory episode through a tour around Eden Island and the intro of the newbies.**

 **Lastly, congratulations to my friend** **Skillet28561 for solving the Puzzle.**

' **Til next time.**


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